No Dogs were Harmed During the Making of this Meal

We had Thanksgiving this year again at Ken's place, though this time we moved all the tables into the room with the heater so we wouldn't be so cold. We did it pot luck style again with everyone bringing something. We asked Spring, Steve's wife, not to bring anything again, last year she completely ignored us on that one. We thought she'd probably just bring stuff anyways this time too but she actually stuck to it and only brought over one dish. There was of course way too much food anyways, can it really be Thanksgiving without it. This great picture was taken by Sarah, and reported here without permission. Pretty much everyone who was there is in the picture besides Sarah who was taking the picture, and Mike, Steve's son, who was in a bit of a mood and didn't feel like leaning forward. I made mashed potatoes again, they came out much better this year thanks to the masher I got from the US and the fact that instead of much milk I added a really ridiculous amount of butter and some garlic to them. Ken made stuffing again which was definitly better than last year thanks to drying out the bread first. The real stars of the show were Sean and Sarah though who do an absolutely amazing job with their little toaster oven. They made green bean casserole and stuffed mushrooms that were out of this world. They also deviled about 3 dozen eggs. The best part was the desert though which consisted of cup cakes and an amazingly good apple crisp. Ken joked that we should have just given money to Sean and Sarah and had them cook all the Thanksgiving food. We had KFC as the turkey again despite some jokes about going for the dog meat.

Having Thanksgiving this year was both similar and different to last year. The actual meal was pretty similar, though with better cooking thanks to Sean and Sarah, but the people were different. Dave is back in the US and Clark is over in Shanghai, and even Amy who was hear in the second semester is gone. Looking back on my old posts from last Thanksgiving http://pleasedontrunoverme.blogspot.com/2008/11/to-give-thanks.html I'm reminded of feeling homesick around that time. It's not really in the post but I can just remember feeling it as I was writing. What's interesting this year is that I don't feel as homesick. It feels like I just got back to China even though the semester is almost done. Maybe I'm just getting used to missing holidays I don't know. When I used to live in Belgium I made up a word, distance Americans, it refereed to people who were technically Americans, but had lived so little of their life in the US that they came across as more European than anything. I wonder if I'm going to be like that some day. I wonder if I spend enough time away from the US will I lose my connection to it. I'm not sure if this is good or bad I just don't know. Already I know less about US pop culture than I would if I lived in the US. How long will it be before people will ask me questions about what's big in the US and I'll have no idea. I've always prided myself on my ability to predict political trends but I wonder if that too is eroded by losing some of my connection to the US. Part of me wants to visit every country, see every sight like I was collecting them, but it seems that the old ones slip away though my fingers the longer I am gone from them. By the time I've seen everything will I need to start again to see how everything's changed? I just wonder if I'm losing my country, and if that's a good or bad thing.

I'm going to end this post the way I ended my post last year and the way my dad begins every Thanksgiving meal, because traditions can be important when they bring us closer together, by saying what I'm thankful for this year. I'm thankful to have friends in China with whom I can spend a nice Thanksgiving. I'm thankful to have friends with whom I can travel to strange and interesting places with. I'm thankful for having this blog as, at very least, a record of what I've been doing that even I already need to look back on. I'm thankful for all the support I've gotten from friends and family in the US, I know not all families are as supportive of such wanderings as mine is. I'm thankful for having this opportunity to gallivant around the world. I'm thankful that my mother and my grandfather are feeling better, and I hope for continued good health in the coming year. Happy Thanksgiving.