Thanksgiving in Nanchang

The evening really began at about 3:30 PM. I still had one class left to teach and had to catch the bus as soon as class ended. So, I put on my suit and headed out the door to teach my final Thanksgiving day class. Max and I had decided that this could be our only opportunity to wear our suits, so we went with it.

Class was fairly uneventful. On the way to class and on the way to the bus afterwards I got even more stairs and giggles than normal, but that was to be expected. Max also had a late class at old campus, so Matt, Janice, and I hoped on to the teacher bus to head over to meet him. I had a nice conversation with an older Chinese gentleman, who turned out to be an advanced English reading teacher. His English was fairly decent and he told me that my Chinese was pretty good as well. He asked me questions about my life in Nanchang and my life in America as well. I'm still surprised nearly everyday by how friendly and inquisitive everyone is here. There seems to be a small portion of the population who wants absolutely nothing to do with foreigners, but for the most part everyone here in Nanchang has been extremely friendly and helpful.

After meeting Max, we headed over to Detox to meet the rest of our Thanksgiving party. When we got out of the cab we were greeted by Terry who introduced us to a few of his fellow teachers who were also all from America. Two were from California, Crystal a mid-twenties, Berkley graduate and Rodney from San Diego, and finally, one teacher was from Maine. I have forgotten his name but during conversation he revealed that he was well over 60. Once we arrived at the restaurant we meet several more foreigners and were seated around many more that I never had the opportunity to meet. Others were from Los Angeles, Georgia (Union City! you'll be happy to hear that Sarah!), Australia, Canada, and Britain.

The dinner was amazing. The first course was a chicken terrine with bacon and caramelized onions. The second course was a dream: garlic mashed potatoes, sage bread stuffing, carrots, and roast turkey all swimming in a delicious gravy. The dinner was finished with a pumpkin tart and the entire evening was accompanied by Chilean wine, Heinekens and Coronas. I was more than stuffed.

We ended the evening at Escape Bar and a little conversation with our new western friends. It was as this point that a few of our new acquaintances revealed that they thought that Max and I were religous because we had dressed up. "China, the only place where dressing up for dinner can be held against you." Having missed Thanksgiving dinner for the last two years, this was a nearly perfect substitution for the real thing. It was only missing my family and friends. I hope everyone had a great Thanksgiving, and I can't wait to hear about them all!