Gobble, Gobble

I bet you didn’t have sushi, kimchi and a fish head on your Thanksgiving table this year, now did you? Nope, didn’t think so. That’s because you didn’t celebrate the most delicious American holiday in China. That would be me.

The plans to create a suitable Thanksgiving experience began forming weeks ago – that’s how seriously we took it. Josh (aka “The Head Pilgrim”) and Becky offered to host the soiree at their house, since it’s pretty roomy. All of our fellow teachers, both foreign and Chinese, were invited to partake in the festivities so long as they agreed to chip in for the big ticket item (the turkey) and bring a side dish of their choice (hence, the fish head). I volunteered to bring the pumpkin pie since I’d heard talk of attempting a no-bake recipe for the holiest of all Thanksgiving dishes and that just wasn’t going to happen on my watch. I took the safe route and pre-ordered one from City Shop (the Mecca of Western grocery stores), where some of the other hard-to-find items were bought.

When all was said and done, we had a veritable feast on our hands (or, more accurately, in our bellies): turkey, stuffing, gravy, cranberry sauce, mashed potatoes, salad, an abundance of bread, green beans, sweet potato soup, fruit salad, pumpkin pie and cheesecake. Not too shabby, if I do say so myself. Oh, and the aforementioned Asian dishes that I kept far away from my plate to preserve the purity of Thanksgiving.

J+B had their place outfitted for the holiday, complete with a wall collage of hand-traced turkeys and autumnal trees dubbed “The Enchanted Forest” – kudos for the effort. As we sat around the living room scarfing down our holiday meal off disposable plates, we participated in my favorite Thanksgiving tradition – the “What I’m Thankful For” game. All of our answers were pretty much in sync: thankful to be an American, thankful for the opportunity to live and teach in China, thankful for new friends, thankful to be safe and healthy. Stephanie, who happened to be the only Chinese teacher in the room at the time, was thankful for her new apartment because “it is much bigger so there is more space.” Hey, it’s all relative.

I got a kick out of watching our non-American guests try pumpkin pie and stuffing for the first time. Lily gave them both the thumbs up (but she generally tells me whatever I want to hear), while Angela (the sarcastic one...obviously my favorite) wasn’t too jazzed about the pumpkin pie. Practically sacrilegious, if you ask me. They were also pretty confused by the whole turkey obsession (pork is the meat of choice over here), and couldn’t seem to grasp how it’s different from a chicken. So much to learn, young grasshoppers...

We rounded off the night with a few rounds of Bananagrams before catching a cab back home. I could barely keep my eyes open because I was already deep in my traditional post-Thanksgiving food coma. Seems like some things stay the same no matter where you celebrate Turkey Day. And, as domestic diva and Thanksgiving aficionado Martha Stewart would say, that’s a good thing.