Raq's party

It was fantastic.
Long, pleasant day of swimming and partying with my training brothers and sisters, eating cake, and laughing till I had tears. As usual, spent most of the day with young Alex, a snarky, too-smart-for-his-own-good, seventeen year old brownbelt, and Chris. For some reason it seems to be us together most of the day during these things.

The party favors were Baoding Balls, I effing kid you not. The best part was that the insert on how to use them read: For relaxation, place two balls in hand and move them about.... That was funnier than it should have been to the adults, because every once in a while we would open the box, read the insert and go, "Khhkhhkhh!" I've had a pair of Baoding balls since I was in my twenties and I know how to use them in both hands, but no one else really did so I was showing some people how to do it. Sifu walked in just then, saw me with them and said, "I thought yours would be bigger. And brass." And I just lost it. Toward the end of the day, I was showing Raq's Mom how to use them but the pair I had were really teeny. Chris was carrying his around, which were bigger and I wanted to show her using his ones so I called him over, only to realize that I had no idea how to ask him.

Hilarity, of course, ensued. It ensued many, many times, actually.

But there was more to it than Baoding balls. There was cake and swimming and long talks. In the pool, Raq's family had these really cool toys and one of them was a huge, gold round one. I climbed on it (with help from Chris; it was slippery and hardly anyone could climb on!) then sat in the lotus position and called out, "Hey guys, who am I?!" Everyone was like, "BUDDHA LOL!"

In the pool, I talked for a long time with Chris about everything under the sun (mostly college, since he's going into the medical field and I am going back to school,) travel, and we compared scars. And out of the pool with sharp-witted Alex about Kung Fu, people with issues, our own issues, and how they don't really go away when you "grow up" the way people seem to think they do.

At the end of the day, Mike, from the other school but the toughest of the tough in the entire academy, found a mantis in the grass and picked it up. It was a juvenile one. We all held it and it was so sweet. We thought it was really cool because we do the mantis style in some of our attacks. Then he let it climb on his face.

Raq really loved the gifts that I got her and she got a lot of other cool stuff, too. I really hope it was everything she wanted.

PICTURES!

( Raq and Chris lighting candles. )

( Raq and Alex )

( Raq and Tristan )

( Raq and Mike )

( Raq with the mantis! )

( Here is a nice closeup of the mantis on my hand: )

( And here are some ones of Mike with the mantis, including when it's on his face. :D )

Raq's party

It was fantastic.
Long, pleasant day of swimming and partying with my training brothers and sisters, eating cake, and laughing till I had tears. As usual, spent most of the day with young Alex, a snarky, too-smart-for-his-own-good, seventeen year old brownbelt, and Chris. For some reason it seems to be us together most of the day during these things.

The party favors were Baoding Balls, I effing kid you not. The best part was that the insert on how to use them read: For relaxation, place two balls in hand and move them about.... That was funnier than it should have been to the adults, because every once in a while we would open the box, read the insert and go, "Khhkhhkhh!" I've had a pair of Baoding balls since I was in my twenties and I know how to use them in both hands, but no one else really did so I was showing some people how to do it. Sifu walked in just then, saw me with them and said, "I thought yours would be bigger. And brass." And I just lost it. Toward the end of the day, I was showing Raq's Mom how to use them but the pair I had were really teeny. Chris was carrying his around, which were bigger and I wanted to show her using his ones so I called him over, only to realize that I had no idea how to ask him.

Hilarity, of course, ensued. It ensued many, many times, actually.

But there was more to it than Baoding balls. There was cake and swimming and long talks. In the pool, Raq's family had these really cool toys and one of them was a huge, gold round one. I climbed on it (with help from Chris; it was slippery and hardly anyone could climb on!) then sat in the lotus position and called out, "Hey guys, who am I?!" Everyone was like, "BUDDHA LOL!"

In the pool, I talked for a long time with Chris about everything under the sun (mostly college, since he's going into the medical field and I am going back to school,) travel, and we compared scars. And out of the pool with sharp-witted Alex about Kung Fu, people with issues, our own issues, and how they don't really go away when you "grow up" the way people seem to think they do.

At the end of the day, Mike, from the other school but the toughest of the tough in the entire academy, found a mantis in the grass and picked it up. It was a juvenile one. We all held it and it was so sweet. We thought it was really cool because we do the mantis style in some of our attacks. Then he let it climb on his face.

Raq really loved the gifts that I got her and she got a lot of other cool stuff, too. I really hope it was everything she wanted.

PICTURES!

( Raq and Chris lighting candles. )

( Raq and Alex )

( Raq and Tristan )

( Raq and Mike )

( Raq with the mantis! )

( Here is a nice closeup of the mantis on my hand: )

( And here are some ones of Mike with the mantis, including when it's on his face. :D )