Thanksgiving

Just a short note to wish you and yours a happy Thanksgiving.

With speech competitions consuming my every waking moment till now, I have not had much time to think of Thanksgiving being right around the corner. Now, with both competitions finished I find my calendar mocking me with the traditional holiday, just days away.

I should have gone shopping today but on Mondays I have a full course load to teach: from 8AM until 8:30PM I am addressing students. And this after a weekend of competitions!

No, shopping will have to be done tomorrow. I will head out to Metro to see if they have any turkeys. Hopefully headless/footless ones, although I could stand to amputate feet if I had to. Remember that in China, poultry is sold ‘whole bird’ so that you recognize you’re getting real bird, not something disguised as poultry… although I have a hard time imagining how poultry could be faked.

Or maybe I will just cook a chicken breast and pretend it is turkey. Anyone I would consider inviting is busy or out of town anyway, and I’m not necessarily a traditionalist. Especially if maintaining tradition means I have to amputate a turkey’s head.

There is secret option #3: Aloha’s, an American diner in Hanyang is offering a full Thanksgiving dinner with all the trimmings. The price is rather high – over 100Yuan a plate, but the food is tasty. And, considering that I may well spend over that amount cooking a traditional dinner for just myself, it might be reasonable to jump on a bus and chow down on turkey and ham that I don’t have to cook. Besides, I just got off the phone with Carrie Ann, who reminded me that Aloha’s is putting on that spread. She said she wouldn’t mind extending her party’s reservation to include me.

I haven’t seen Carrie Ann since I got back to Wuhan except for one brief visit, when we had Olaf’s going away party in September. His assignment in China is over; he has permanently returned to his beloved Germany. Carrie Ann has been very busy with her full teaching schedule and working on her Master’s. As it stands, she and I might not have a chance to visit until maybe over Spring Festival time. As long as we stay in touch and catch up on the phone every so often, I can live with that. While not a good traveling companion for me she is a good friend. I do miss her.

No, I think that, after the panic and hectic of these past few weeks I can live with some quiet time. I think I’ll spend Thanksgiving alone. That grilled chicken breast with a baked potato sounds just fine. Besides, I need to get going on my Christmas shopping. As it is I’m running late for that. The gifts I’m sending back to the States might not make it there on time because I’m so late.

But I do have an idea to commemorate Thanksgiving. Every Wednesday the English department has a staff meeting. I’m not included because the meetings are in Chinese – go figure! But nothing says that, on this one Wednesday I cannot sneak into the meeting room and deliver a pan of brownies before the meeting starts, along with a note thanking my colleagues and the school’s administration for this wonderful experience I’m enjoying with them. I know they all like brownies. Who doesn’t?

Don’t feel sad that I’m stuck in China all by myself on Thanksgiving. I’ll log some video time with Gabriel, I’m sure. And I’m going to try to get in touch with Darrell too. The internet café has QQ, the Chinese chat program that Jennifer downloaded, but it doesn’t have Skype. So calling Darrell is out.

And I have you in my heart. As you gather ‘round your table, surely groaning with all of the goodies that you’ll enjoy, as you take the hand of your loved one and give your thanks for the riches in your life, I’ll be right there with you, in spirit.

Happy Thanksgiving to you and yours!