Thanksgiving

            好久不見 - Long time no see.  There’s no need (irony) to write about how busy I’ve been since my last post.  Strangely enough, that’s what NOT writing indicates.  Anyway, now that I have ample free time, I can catch up on all the things I’ve neglected, such as giving thanks.

            I am part of Peace Corps China’s 17^th batch of volunteers, and that means that I fall into a long line of traditions passed down through the years.  In my province, there is a designated place to celebrate every major western holiday except for Thanksgiving.  As the story goes, thanks was originally given in Kaili.  This was back when there was a fewer number of volunteers, and everyone could stay in just two apartments.  Now, there are 40 volunteers in Guizhou, and it is too difficult to host everybody in a small town like Kaili.  This year, however, there are four apartments to split in Kaili, and I decided to try to return to old traditions and, with the help of my citymates, we successfully hosted a wonderful Kaili Thanksgiving. Thanks to a generous friend of mine here in Kaili, we had access to a large dining room at a local hotel and set up a big buffet style dinner with what can only be describes as a “unique” Thanksgiving spread.  We had pepper chicken and dumplings instead of turkey and stuffing, but there was still pumpkin soup, mashed potatoes with gravy, sweet potato casserole, and even some homemade apple pie.  Lastly, to honor the original Thanksgiving traditions practiced by the pilgrims, we concluded the evening with a rousing game of musical chairs.