Monday, February 14, 2005

Surprising occasions

Wednesday afternoon around 12:30 I (Heather) stopped in at Mai Village to pick up lunch for myself and my coworkers. I have never been there during the lunch hour before and was noticeably surprised by the full house when I arrived. There was a waiting list to be seated. Many people were traditionally dressed and I certainly took notice to it, but they didn’t seem displaced. As my order came up, the woman behind the bar politely asked me to wait to leave until the show was over. Show? What show? Then suddenly I heard drumming resonating from the entryway. Then two dragons came in followed by drummers and they made their way over the bridge and through the restaurant. I thought that perhaps this was a daily lunchtime ritual which is why the lunch hour drew such a large crowd. The next day while reading the paper, I learned that all along University Avenue that the dragons and drummers were visiting Asian restaurants in St. Paul in celebration of Tet (the Chinese/Vietnamese New Year). What a surprising and entertaining way to start the new year.

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Speaking of surprises, I (David) spent yesterday evening celebrating cousin Mary’s 50th birthday at her surprise party. First surprise party I’ve ever attended that actually worked. I got to see many of the same faces from the recent Christmas party, as well as get the preliminary report from Mom (Nan) and Peter’s trip to San Diego. The party was held at Boca Chica. It is very easy to order too much food there. I knew this ahead of time so I decided to order from the “ala carte” menu. Unfortunately, the 3 enchiladas, 2+ beers, multiple baskets of chips with guacamole, beans, and salsa were still too much. It made me glad that I had changed my mind about biking there once I had seen it start to rain. Despite leaving a bit early, I have to say that seeing the family, enjoying good food, and not having an extremely loud mariachi band playing right behind us made for a good time. If anyone is planning a surprise for my 30th, I suggest you contact Mary’s daughter, Susie, the organizer of this event. A job well done.

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