A Drinking Game

There were the usual drinking games played during our "Thanks-to-Teachers" banquet. This is an interesting game and it is played at all happy-occasion meals in Taiwan. It works like this: after two people agree to start, they shake hands first. They each then raise their own hand straight up and when they bring the hands down - at the same time they would signal a number between zero and five with their fingers while shouting out a perhaps different number between zero and ten. A person wins the game when the called number matches the sum of the two hands. The game continues with the contestants shouting numbers and showing hands until someone wins. The loser then drinks some liquor in the amount pre-determined by early agreement. Yes, the loser drinks! It is opposite from the western way of thinking! The game is then repeated – usually at least three times. Of course, the game could get very loud and heated! The following picture shows me playing this game with a professor. To show my respect, I was standing while he sat!