This past weekend Monkey King and I went to New York City for a short trip to visit his parents, who were visiting from Florida, and some of his extended family. Everything went very well, we got to see his sister again (always fun) and hang out with my good, blogless friend Meena. But this entry isn't about the good times. It's about the embarrassing times.

Picture us, the family plus me, all sitting around the table having dim sum. Me, MK's mother, his little cousin (maybe 4 years old?), his aunt, another cousin, his grandmother, cousin, sister, father, and Monkey King. We're all having fun, and they have just given me very generous gifts. I'm playing with the littlest cousin, "Got Your Nose!" You all remember this game, right?

Well, apparently, when you make this gesture (aka "you have gotten that nose"):

it's the same as this gesture (this is a cat giving you the middle finger):

So I basically flipped off a four year old girl. Laughingly and gratuitously in front of Monkey King's relatives. Luckily, my boyfriend was there to point it out to everyone who may have missed it, including his grandmother. She was able to confirm that yes, that IS how Chinese people flip each other off.

Hey, they didn't call me Smooth Kim in middle school just because I shaved off my eyebrows.