Thanksgiving in China

For the first time in my life, I did not have Thanksgiving at home, in the United States, with my family. However, I did have Thanksgiving, and I had it in my Chinese home with my family here (made up of my friends here at the school plus some). Usually when my family celebrates Thanksgiving we invite not only our family, but also some of our close friends. In the past, these close friends have included many people from other countries. For example, for many years our family friends from the Jiangsu region of China came to celebrate with us and last year my roommate from Japan came.

For my Thanksgiving in China, this tradition of having people from different countries celebrate with us was carried out to the max. Of course there were Americans - four to be exact. But there were also four Canadians, an Australian, two Chinese, a Mexican, a Philippine, and a Kenyan. 14 people from 7 different countries. Since it was a potluck dinner, we had a variety of dishes from the different countries. It was a fantastic way to get to try food from the various places, listen to everyone's stories, and get to know each person better.

Even though many people did not know each other before the dinner, many people became friends and exchanged numbers. It was indeed a wonderful way to celebrate and give thanks for everything that we have here.