Man Hunt!

The first time I heard of it, I thought it was a type of speed-dating activity organized by seethingly horny heterosexual women. Well, with a name like Man Hunt... come on!

Of course, it's not actually that type of hunt... but don't stop reading! You do get to touch people. When you tag them!

Yeah, you figured it out! It's a game of tag! Adult tag. Not "adult tag" in the sense of "adult videos," no, no, not that kind of touching, not naughty... unfortunately, no triple X's. It's just tag, for adults. (The word "adult" still makes me giggle. Am I immature?)

So far I have participated twice. Everyone uses paper-rock-scissors to see who gets to run away and hide within the several city blocks designated as the game area. The last person to be left is "IT." "IT" gets to chase the others, and root them out from their hiding spots, and TAG them. Once the others get tagged, they also get to chase and find people who are still not "it", and then tag them too. Finally everyone is tagged and the whole group meets back at the starting point for a second game.

If this game was on three times a week, I would probably go each time. I love it.

It is so excellent to be able to run around outside playing with people I don't even know. It's like being 8 (but better because I don't have homework and I decide when and if to do my chores). It's so refreshing to know that there are other people older than 10 (besides my own immediate friends) who are still willing to run around busy downtown shopping areas, risking stares and frowns from the more conservative set, to play.

It's great to be able to use public space in a way that is fun. It's awesome to run around playing on the same sidewalks where, in past times, I've walked to work, run errands, or waited for a bus to school. It makes my hometown feel more like it belongs to me again. It also satisfies a craving for something I always miss whenever I am away from China: the feeling that public spaces belong to the people, to use as we see fit.

Thank you Man Hunt!