Adventures in Guangzhou!

Leading up to yesterday, I was definitely concerned that Thanksgiving would signal a lowpoint for me here in China. Everything said at orientation and written in the country guide suggested that people reach a 3 month dropoff in satisfaction and enter a new stage of culture shock around Thanksgiving. I can't really say that I've experienced any noticeable culture shock, but it was logical to me that if it were going to happen, this would be the time. Besides these forecasts, I was also worried that I would get really homesick here on the 4th Thursday of November.

For as long as I can remember, my family has been heading over to the same house for our Thanksgiving meal--the Siegel's. Todd, the middle Siegel child, is my oldest friend in the world and remains one of my best. I have always looked forward to Thanksgiving as a time to watch football over at their house, eat amazing food (7 layer bars. Mmmm.), laugh uncontrollably at ridiculous dinner conversation, watch fun movies, and generally not have a care in the world. I don't know about anyone else, but in my experience nothing bad ever happens on Thanksgiving. New Years always gets built up too much, Christmas/Hanukah is always too stressful for people, Passover involves too much ritual before eating, and even birthdays are kind of hit or miss. Thanksgiving is a given--you know where you're going to go, what you're going to do, and who will be there. You can't go wrong!

In the past six or seven years I have also developed an additional routine for before the actual holiday. Whether at school or in Boston, I usually managed to get home at some point Wednesday night in time to have a good home cooked meal with the fam' and then head out to the bars in order to meet up with my friends from home. We'd have a couple beers, see random high school kids that we hadn't seen since last Thanksgiving, and stay out late for no good reason. I would then wake up at around 7:30am or so, grab breakfast, and then meet up with the two Johns: Fraser & Castilhos, my two former track co-captains. We'd drive out to Manchester, park in the same lot as Fraser's cousins, then start to warm up for the Manchester Road Race, a Thanksgiving tradition in CT. It's about 14,000 people trudging through 5 miles (with one mile completely uphill!) starting at 10am and there are bands playing the entire way, as well as people running in costume. Without fail, these two middle-aged guys dressed up as the Blues Brothers always pass me right around the 4 mile marker.

After surviving the race, we'd catch up with old track and cross-country teammates. Another year, another race. I would also find out just how badly my old coach, now approaching 70 years old, beat me that morning (I swear that man is immortal). After wandering around and meeting up with people, we'd migrate back up to the cars and enjoy a beer or two with Fraser's family. I usually had time to shower and catch a quick nap before heading over to the Siegel's. All in all, it is an excellent tradition.

So this year I knew I would have to go without the high school friends, the road race, and the witty jokes at the Siegel's house. I had high hopes that I could have some sort of Thanksgiving meal, but I had my doubts as to what that would actually entail. First off, turkey does not exist in China. If it's alive anywhere, it's hiding from the public and probably has bird flu at this point anyway. Second, it's extremely rare to find an oven in anyone's house. They have them at some restaurants, but Chinese people as a whole don't cook with ovens, so how would we cook the bird even if we found one? Third, most of us have work on Fridays so would people even be interested in putting something together?

A couple weeks ago I was talking about Thanksgiving with the Yalies and got into a big argument. Kelly and I were adamant that if there was any possible way, we needed to locate a turkey. Everyone else said that chicken or ham was an acceptable substitute (I can just picture the horror on my mother's face at the prospect of a Thanksgiving Ham) but I wasn't going to have any of that. Thanksgiving means Turkey. Period. We chatted about the possibility of making a run to Hong Kong in order to procure a turkey and bring it back on ice. We also tossed around the idea of getting a store to special order us an imported turkey.

Last Sunday on my birthday we decided to try and firm up some plans for a Thanksgiving potluck dinner. Kelly and I once again insisted on turkey and Meggie Lu stepped up to the challenge. She called every store in the area that might have something and came back to report that it was possible, but that it would be pricey. In my mind, money was no object here--if there was any conceivable way for me to eat Thanksgiving turkey, I was willing to spend any amount. Oliver's, a small western foodstore in the city, managed to secure us an 11lb bird straight from Utah and it was game on.

Kelly and Diana have a small oven and so does Meggie, so I was hoping that between the two of them, it would get cooked. Lo and behold, they shoved it right on in and it just barely fit! Excellent. I volunteered to make mashed potatoes and found a good-looking recipe for garlic & chive mashed potatoes online. Once again though, there were some minor issues. Where in the world do I get heavy cream? Butter? Thyme? Chives? With a little help from Park n Shop and some friends I managed to pull it all together and spent about two hours making over 3kg of potatoes. In case you're curious, that is a helluva lot of potatoes. There was something a bit odd about mashing potatoes and garlic in an enormous wok, but whatever.

After picking up some wine, Steven and I braved the bus and subway holding huge dishes of food and headed over to Kelly & Diana's for our feast. People seemed to be giving us the standard looks of "who are those caucasians?" and "what are they holding?" I was so excited for the meal that I almost decided to strike up conversations with random people along the way just to show them my potatoes (I didn't). As we were walking from the subway to their apartment, I began to worry a bit. What if the turkey didn't cook right in the mini oven? What if other people didn't bring what they said they would? What if there wasn't enough food?? Those of you who know me well can attest to the fact that I eat quite a bit. Picture that multiplied by about five--that's how much I usually eat on Thanksgiving.

We walked inside and I almost couldn't believe my senses. It smelled like Thanksgiving inside! There was western food everywhere! When Meggie and Andrew arrived and everything was finally laid out on the table, I was speechless in a giddy sort of way. Steven made beer & soy sauce broccoli, as well as corn on the cob. Meggie cooked a pumpkin pie and brought bread. Andrew made a sweet potato dish. Kelly concocted a cranberry sauce and cooked an apple pie. Diana made gravy and a chicken-stuffing casserole. We had four bottles of wine. We had dozens of rolls. I was beside myself. I even had the honor of carving the turkey, affectionately named "Norbert" by Diana, which was really fun. Before I knew it, there were dishes being passed across the table, the clinking of wine glasses, the noise of forks and knives at work, and six ecstatic westerners eating an unbelievable Thanksgiving dinner in Guangzhou, China. Steven and I both agree that we have never felt more full after a meal since arriving in China. I must have had six or seven full plates of food and probably could have gone for more if I hadn't got distracted by our viewing of "Home Alone." The food here has been great but there's just something about Thanksgiving dinner that trumps everything else.

It may be a little cheesy, but I do like the idea of taking a bit of time to think about what you're thankful for on Thanksgiving. This is by no means a comprehensive list, but here is some of my list. I am thankful for:
-an enormous, delicious, and memorable Thanksgiving meal
-the faculty and staff here at HSFZ, that has been nothing but supportive and friendly
-PiA, for giving me this opportunity in the first place
-high speed internet in my apartment (a little selfish, but it's true)
-hard-working students, that make my teaching easy
-the new friends I've made here in China, both expat and Chinese
-Steven, for putting up with me on a daily basis
-my friends in America who have kept in touch and seem genuinely interested in what I'm doing
-my sister Ilana, for being all-around awesome
and last, but certainly not least...
-my parents, for being so supportive of me in this wild China adventure and in everything else I've done in my life

Here is a link to a couple pictures from the night, at the end of the section from my birthday.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/awolfe03/sets/1409556/