Between today and tomorrow, I will have attended three holiday parties.
The first one tonight was the annual holiday party for my tae kwon do school. Everyone gathers at the dojang and brings something to eat/relevant to eating (paper goods, etc.), wears their real people clothes, and gets to chat, play with a bean bag toss, throw cards, and there are ball pit balls for the little kids. I brought garbage bags and two of the challot I baked today, one cinnamon sugar and one plain.
I made an appearance wearing a skirt, top, and tights, my glasses, I had makeup on, and I was wearing my glasses. Basically, I presented myself in the exact opposite way of how I normally look at tae kwon do (hair back, contacts, no makeup, wearing a dobok that consists of man pants and a generic baggy top). I was surprised at how many people commented on how different I looked, particularly about my glasses.
It was refreshing for these people who are so important to me to be able to see me as I am day to day. They appreciate me when I'm sweaty, gross, and not cute at all, but now they've seen me when I've actually made an effort to look decent, so I hope they have a fuller understanding of who I am and how I present myself.
It also made me realize how important my presentation (performance, for all you sociology/gender studies/performance studies people out there...applying my area of study for the win!) is to my sense of self. The people I interact with day to day never see me in the tae kwon do context, so they have no idea about what I'm physically capable of the way the tae kwon do people understand that, yes, I can kick with power and accuracy, and, yes, I can do a bunch of push ups and sit ups on demand.
Getting to socialize with the TKD people was so much fun. I had a lot of people who are significant participants in my life to catch up with, and I really just felt loved and appreciated by people who I love and appreciate. It was particularly nice that the head of the school mentioned all the college students who have come back and called me out by name to be welcomed home. He said that it takes a special kind of person to spend their school breaks sweating and fighting back at the old tae kwon do school, but really, it takes a special school to draw me back whenever I get the chance.
And I successfully threw a card into the milk crate for the first time, so that was a milestone.
So, my second party was a family party with another family who we've been friends with since our mothers were pregnant with the eldest siblings at the same time. We went through elementary school together, and just have a familial relationship. I so enjoyed chilling with them again, especially now that the younger daughter of the other family is such a comedian. She had all the perfect one-liners that kept me laughing all throughout dinner.
Tomorrow's party is a reunion of my high school group of friends, and I can't wait to see everyone again!!! Despite all the ways we've grown and changed throughout our time apart at college, we still care deeply for one another and the sisterhood from high school brings us back to rolling on the floor laughing. Literal rofls.
Today is awesome because I was reminded of how lucky I am to have so many wonderful people in my life who I care about and who care about me.
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