Image by Free-Photos from Pixabay
It’s during the late afternoon hours when the door bell sounded and the guests arrived. However the hosts Pammy and her husband Pan had no idea what’s going on. They had not invited anybody for dinner, not that they knew of. The guests included Armei and her husband Arhu, Lulu and her husband, Pan’s buddy Luk and his wife. Sensing the hosts’ confusion, Armei whipped out her cell phone, from which the email Pammy had sent to her a week ago was visible: “You are cordially invited to Pammy’s annual dinner party on 2/3/2019, on which Pammy would showcase her newest recipes.”
Pammy’s annual dinner party had always been a source of her pride. She’s the best chef among her friends–her rice noodle salad, pineapple beef, popiah in rice paper, homemade tofu are the favorite. Pammy usually serve everything on bamboo leaves and in bamboo bowls, which resonated with the guests’ nostalgic spirit.
“You don’t know you are having a dinner party?” Her guests were just as surprised as their hosts.
“No. I was inviting everybody to a party on March 2nd. Today is only Feb 3rd.”Pammy said.
“You said February 3rd here. 2/3/2019. Isn’t this Feb 3rd?” Armei said.
“I see.” Lulu blurted out. “Pammy. I can’t believe you are still making this mistake after living in America for 16 years. 2/3 means Feb 3rd, not March 2nd.”
“Oh, It took me a while to adjust to the American system when I first came.” Luk said. “However I would suppose you had adjusted by now. Pammy. After 16 years.”
“Of course I adjusted. I adjusted much better than you, or my husband Pan. However recently I met Maria in the real estate office and I started to learn some Spanish. It must have slipped my mind when I was sending the message that I used the Spanish notation system for date.”
“OK, don’t panic. I will go out to get pizza and a case of beer.” Pan volunteered, but the guests were so disappointed.
“We didn’t come here for pizza. We could have pizza any other place and any other time.” Lulu said and other guests agreed.
It’s a Sunday evening and Pammy was really not in the mood for cooking. However her reputation is on the line. She’s crowned the best chef who hosts the best dinner parties among her friends–she wants to keep it that way.
“How about I teach everybody how to make the best yogurt. I just learned this from my Bulgarian neighbor, whose mother had mailed the fresh Bulgarian yeast to her. It’s so much better than the store bought yogart, much less sugar and a lot more flavor.” Pammy said.
“That’s great. Armei would want to learn it and we need that.” Armei’s husband Arhu said. Everybody seemed to be satisfied with this new development.
“How about you also teach Armei how to make homemade tofu? I mean homemade ones are so much better than the store bought ones. We can have homemade yogurt and tofu from now on.” Arhu continued.
Arhu was grinning from side to side while the wives decried the injustice of his statement, “Why can’t you learn, Arhu? Why does it have to be Armei?”
Haoyan Do 
I would have read the dates like Pammy did😂
They ended up not cooking anything if I’m not wrong
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LOL. Yes, they ended up ordering pizza.
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They could have at least reminded the host the day before.
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LOL. They should do that. You are absolutely right.
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The difference in the way dates are written can be super confusing. I always wrote day first but now I’m getting more used to writing the month first.
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It’s very confusing if one’s mind lives in the two systems. Some of my friends are still having trouble with Fahrenheit after a decade of living in New Jersey. I guess old habits die hard.
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I also get confused by the date system. That’s why I write it all out. I am curious if they know how to read and write it in Chinese. Writing out dates in Chinese is so much easier than English.
But I have to say, good way to turn a bad situation into a good one. I can imagine cooking classes can be a fun social activity.
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Yes, the two systems are confusing, especially to people who often travel between Asia and America. They have to be careful.
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The date system can cause so much confusion. I still get confused between the two. That’s what you get when you’ve been used to both.
And yogurt and tofu sound like a healthy treat. The men need to help out too.
Lively and fun. 🙂
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That’s so true. I think you must have two systems in your head, and also probably a conversion system in your head too. I’ve never been entirely comfortable with inches and foot and the date and the temperature system. I always have to convert, and sometimes I calculate wrong. Fortunately cell phone has become our accessory and can do the calculation for us.
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The American system of writing the date is very confusing! I prefer the regular non American system😍See what it did! Unexpected guests arriving for meals is a definite no-no haha
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Yes. It is the hosts worst nightmare when unexpected guests arrive. Most of the world grow up with the non-American system and people have to change to the American system when they come to live in the U.S. or Canada.
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When the date on something is important I spell it out, “Feb. 6, 2021” to avoid confusion.
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That’s the best way. It is so easy to get the date mixed up, especially for people whose mind are in two different systems.
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What a mix-up!
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Yes, living in two systems can bring problems.
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Poor Pammy! What a nightmare. The different date structures are confusing. I’m glad the evening had a happy resolution.
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Yes, it can be very frustrating. And I’ve really seen this happening. The two systems can be confusing…
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I have been confused by it a few times and mixed up the dates too!
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Yes, you are right. It is confusing. We all experience it from time to time.
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