Thanksgiving in Beijing!

Ever since college, thanksgiving has always been a holiday away from home for me, and this year was no exception.  Thanks to the enthusiasm of expats in Beijing, I was lucky enough to participate in a Thanksgiving feast marathon!  4 true Thanksgiving style meals in 3 days--phew!  I am on a diet until Christmas ;)  

I will make a note though that Thanksgiving has come a long way in China.  I remember my first Thanksgiving in China was in 2006 when I was on the Fulbright in Shanghai.  With ovens being a rare item to come across in a Chinese kitchen (who needs one when you've got the wok?), I believe I ended up making stuffing in a rice cooker--and we had to substitute duck for a turkey.  Remember those days Nay and Marie?  haha.  Now you can order a half a turkey for 200 RMB ($30) from one of the American diners and buy yourself a decent sized toaster oven for about $30-40 to make the rest :) 

Below is a picture of me, Allison, Adam, Sarah, and Ben celebrating Thanksgiving at Lily's American Diner in Beijing.  (Thanksgiving meal #1)

Below are some pictures from Sarah's get-together at her apt (Thanksgiving meal #3):

Adam (our first time, yet very talented turkey carver) and Sarah our gracious hostess who put together a scrumptious feast!

A look at our Thanksgiving table

Adam baked a deeelicious pumpkin pie

Ben and Allison waiting for their second/third wind while snacking on candied walnuts

A mix of Europeans and Americans--and Ben our Chinese national representative

Playing a German boardgame

Now, onto Christmas dinner celebrations!  I do have to say, Christmas has become much commercialized and malls here have nearly reached the level of excessive decorations as malls in the States since the making of this song: An American's Christmas in Beijing, but this song still makes me laugh so I'm sharing it with you guys.  That being said, nowadays, if you want to get that "Christmassy feeling" just head over to your nearest high end shopping mall/area and you'll hear the Christmas tunes on repeat doing what they do best--subliminally sending you messages to spend your money :)