Chinese Thanksgiving

The last several days have been filled with Thanksgiving activities, despite not being home for family festivities.  At work, all the Chinese students were very curious about Thanksgiving; I guess they have heard about it on American TV but don't really understand the reason behind the tradition or how people celebrate.  Adam and I did our best to explain, both about the tradition dating from the pilgrims to the more modern opportunity for families to get together and be thankful for each other and for what we have, and Adam brought in a pumpkin pie to share that he made (it was fantastic! - and the Chinese students thought so too!)

On Thanksgiving night here, some of the other Fogarty students in Beijing and I went to a thanksgiving dinner at an American Diner in Beijing.  They were advertising an American-style thanksgiving dinner, and while it was not as good as my family's recipes, it was decent and nice to have appropriate food on the actual date.  They also had quite nice wine on the table :)

Dinner at Lily's American Diner on 11/25/10

Yesterday, was my actual Thanksgiving however; I hosted a potluck dinner with Fogarty people (mostly American), people I have met through Lara who are in Beijing studying Chinese (mostly foreigners not from America), as well as a few Chinese students from our office.  I have recently acquired a mini oven, so I was able to bake a few Thanksgiving mainstays, namely pecan pie and broccoli casserole, with many substituted ingredients and last-minute adjustments, but they turned out in the end.  Alison made a yam bake, and other people contributed tasty dishes as well.  I also managed to buy a turkey from the diner we had been to on Thursday, so our Thanksgiving feast was pretty authentic!  It was a really good time, it was fun to introduce our traditions to so many people who had never experienced it before, and the food was a hit with everyone.  After eating, we sat around talking and enjoying each other's company and playing games.  It really felt more like the Thanksgiving I was missing at home than going out to eat on the actual day.  

Our Thanksgiving potluck feast

And I now have quite a bit of leftover turkey to eat...hot browns anyone?? :)