Thanksgiving: From Death to Digestion

Note: Some of the following may not be suitable for younger readers.

We hope that all of you had a great Thanksgiving! It has been a wonderful 4-day weekend for us and although it is coming to a close quickly, it has definitely given us the strength to continue on for the next 8 weeks that we have left in this semester. Most of the Chinese teachers were pretty jealous of our time off because such a holiday does not exist in China. We did our best to teach the Chinese children the story and principles behind our holiday, though, in hopes that they may one day realize that having a few days off to give thanks isn't such a bad idea after all.

Cooking a traditional Thanksgiving meal over here definitely presented some interesting challenges. It was fun trying to figure out how to make things that usually come in a can in America. I (Tiff) tried my best and it turned out fairly well. I am most proud of my apple pie. I made everything from scratch (without using shortening) and even made it look nice. Thankfully, our family sent a stuffing package so we thoroughly enjoyed that simple yet tasty addition. I had also brought jello when we came here which helped in making a jello fruit salad. I made a cabbage salad that tasted almost the same as at home, and finally I made sweet potatoes. Those didn't turn out quite like we had remembered them but I also realized that it's had to tell what they are in raw form and covered in dirt.

The meat was equally, if not most difficult aspect of the entire meal. I (Josh) went asking everywhere about a turkey in hopes that maybe, just maybe, somebody had a spare turkey lying around. Alas, this was not the case. On the advice of a good friend here in China we decided to just eat chicken - and that same friend advised us that the best chicken was FRESH chicken. Yesterday morning I went to the night market (I know, it's open all day, but they insist on calling it the night market) and went to a chicken coop to pick out a fat, good-looking turkey. That's right, I paid for and walked away holding a very loud, heavy chicken by the wings. Before brining him to the slaughter house I did have a few words with him letting him know that he wouldn't be in his current predicament if his country would just celebrate Thanksgiving with turkeys. Anyway, for a measly 15 cents (definitely worth not having to do it myself) I watched as he was quickly sent to rooster heaven, drained, de-feathered, and cleaned. I'm sorry to say that there will be no pictures attesting to this event as I would not even allow Tiff to come along and watch. I will say, however, that he turned out to be one of the tastier baked chickens I have tasted. I sliced the chicken like you would a turkey and served the white and dark meat in a bowl. I sat during dinner amazed that only 5 hours before eating I had seen this very chicken alive in my hands and he was now being enjoyed by all - quite different from picking out a Butterball at Tom Thumb, eh?

Tiff did an amazing job of working all day making this food while I bought and prepared the chicken. That night we had the Edminsons (American friends), Sam and Heidi (our good Chinese friends), and Ender, the only other American here in Karamay and his girlfriend over for dinner. We stuffed 8 people around our small table and had a good Thanksgiving meal followed by a little bit of football (courtesy of the Gerber Media Center) and the completely American game of Uno. Was it the same as if we had celebrated back with all of you? Not quite - but it was as close as we could come. We still miss our families back home and knew that this experience in China would be the hardest during Thanksgiving and Christmas. Again, we hope you all had a safe and family-filled Thanksgiving - we thank Him for all of you!

P.S. Happy Birthday Mom (Summers)! Sorry we couldn't be there, but we're thinking about you and love you.