For Madame Kasten, Friday nights mean getting together with a group of friends and playing Mahjong or sitting at home watching a Liverpool game. That’s how Madame Kasten likes to spend the start of her weekend.
American Mahjong is a game that Madame Kasten has been playing since the second year of the pandemic, when she was seeking a hobby to take up. The game involves using a set of 13 tiles to make patterns based on cards that change yearly. For Madame Kasten, it’s more than a game; it’s a way to unwind, connect with friends, and challenge her mind at the end of a busy week.
“For like a good 10-15, or so years, I was really searching for some hobbies, because I felt like, you know, working and taking care of kids and things like that, that’s what I did. But I was like, I gotta find a hobby.” That’s when she discovered Mahjong. “I got interested in it after the second year of Covid, when me and my friend group and I were looking for ways to connect. Some of my other friends were looking for hobbies as well, and one of the people who got things rolling worked with somebody really good at playing mahjong and said she would help teach us. Mahjong is not something you can just hear the rules, go ahead and start, like you really need a coach to help you out.”
Madame Kasten continues to play mahjong with her friends on most Fridays that she can. Although not everyone can make it every week, the game continues with those who are available. “It’s just a way to kind of end the week and start the weekend. It’s kind of nice because it’s both social, but also you have to think strategically. You’re trying to decide whether you want to play offensively or defensively, whether you want to try and guess or figure out what people have for their other, for their hands, and try and like, sabotage, or whether you have a good enough hand that you want to move forward and try and win.”
Madame Kasten hopes to keep improving her Mahjong skills and continuing her weekly game nights with her friends. Outside of Mahjong, she plans to keep following her favorite soccer team, Liverpool. “It’s just gorgeous to watch. I don’t know how people can control things and see things the way they do.”
If anyone is looking to get into playing mahjong, Madame Kasten has one piece of advice. “Find someone who knows how to play well and who actually wants to teach.” Madame Kasten is also open to talking with anyone interested in Mahjong.
