Gathering and Party

Yesterday we had a party. Party is one kind of gathering, a gathering of people. If people are all dead, gathering becomes collection. Yesterday's gathering was also a food exhibition, and gathering can also be drinks (usually alcohol) exhibition, and later stupid performance show (I joined this show many times).

That's parties in Sweden. In China we don't have parties. We have something similar to party, that's gathering. People come and sit and talk and drink and eat and leave. That's enjoys for guests, but not for hosts. Hosts will do all of the stuffs. When we were poor (I mean 10 or more years ago) we did this because time was not valuable for us, now people always went to restaurant, for example, my mother doesn't want her carpet to be dirtied.

But it cost a lot. I always feel hard to understand a ancient essay saying that the official was so poor so he could just serve his friends in restaurant because he didn't have enough dishwares at home. Logic changes, I think. Ancient is foreign.

Back to gathering. We don't have freedom to gather, if gathering must be held in public. Private gathering is partly free, according to the scale and the topic (and how much the police know). My father has gatherings almost everyday, Majiang gambling, normally 4 to 6 people, his favorite, and nobody inspected him ever.

Sorry maybe you misunderstand me, we have very much freedom to gather in fact, but you should not be in public. Even in democratic Japan gathering is partly forbidden because it's easy to be sued of affecting the traffic (we are always in parks, right? they will answer).

During Olympic games gatherings among foreigners were prohibited. What was the definition? 3 people, of course, and more. But no body knew anything if you really did. If so, how clubs and bars and something survive? They can also gather at home. They can have party, they will say, no, that's not gathering! Party, party is also forbidden, police would say, we already have China Communist Party!