Day 92 - Happy Thanksgiving!

Day 92  - Thanksgiving in China

As soon as David left for his classes, I cleaned the kitchen and got ready to make pies!  It was hard to organize everything I needed in this tiny kitchen, but it worked out.  Eva called me about 11:30 and wanted to know if we were going to eat at the canteen today.  I told her I was busy with the pies and she came over and wanted to learn how to make them.  She was here about 10 minutes later and took photos of me making the lemon pie and the pumpkin pies. 

David went to the teacher meeting that they had that Eva usually goes to on Thursday afternoons and presented his power point on teaching methods.  He’s not so sure that they were that interested in it, but more that they wanted to hear an English speaker speak since that is the department that they are in.  He showed a power point on Thanksgiving and when we get to the picture of our family (our LARGE family) they do as much if not more than the students do about the size.  It’s always a fun reaction. 

We went to the canteen to have the Foreign Teachers Thanksgiving Dinner about 5:45.  We were the third ones there.  Wayne and Libby Clarke and one single gentleman were there first.  Because we eat at the canteen, some of the workers recognize us and are very friendly to us.  My pies hadn’t set up like they normally would have, so I wasn’t too happy with them, but they still tasted good.  They needed someone to carve the turkey and I guess I have the most experience there, so that is who carved the turkey.  Monica (one of the workers in the Foreign Teachers Office) wanted to learn how to do it, so she watched for a while and then tried to start on the other turkey.  The skin was a little tough, so she took over mine and I started on that one.  I think she had fun with it. 

Everyone waiting for the turkey to be carved.

Monica and me carving the turkey.  She watched me do about half of the first one and then started in on the second.  We eventually traded birds.  

Still waiting for the turkey to be carved.

Digging in!

The aftermath with people just sitting around talking now.

More of the visiting afterward.

We had to leave a little after 7, so that we could be here for David to tutor Allen.  We got here just as he was coming down the stairs from knocking at our door.  His Mom is worried about drugs in American schools.  We weren’t quite sure what to say except that you can find it in some places and others it is harder to find.  You just have to get to know the right people in the schools to stay away from it.  We hoped that was right.

I had many well wishes sent to me by both text and email from my students wishing me a happy Thanksgiving Day.  They are so cute!