Pokemon Blessing

I just had the supreme pleasure of going out to dinner with Orff colleagues Kalms and Manchi. Besides the great pleasure of again seeing these two lovely, lovely people who took Level III with me in 2014 and 2015 respectively (and who I’ve crossed paths with also in Hong Kong in the pre-pandemic years to follow), we discovered an absolutely charming neighborhood with beautiful architecture, alluring winding streets, attractive churches and temples and enticing restaurants ranging from Portuguese to Thai to Korean to Chinese. 

 

We chose the Thai and in the midst of the effortless flow of conversation punctuated with genuine belly laughter, I told the story of the boy who gave me the Pokemon card. They asked to see it and were concerned that he had sloughed off a low-level card to me. But a quick text to their children revealed that he actually gave me a rare, expensive and powerful card having to do with a special energy blend. Of course, I know nothing about Pokemon, but they were duly impressed and it made me yet more grateful to him. If Harvard offered an Honorary Doctorate in exchange for the card, I believe I would refuse them.