So last year around this time I was busily preparing for a meal for 15-18 people at my home for Thanksgiving. And we had a wonderful time; it was one of the best Thanksgivings I ever had in my life, in spite of my sister not being there. But this year, obviously, is very different, because we are not home, so it almost feels like there is no Thanksgiving this year, in some ways.
Wednesday I spent the entire day working on one of my presentations for Jilin U.--the one about Donald Trump and the State of African American Literature in the United States. I use Donald Trump's press conference about Frederick Douglass as a springboard for discussing the importance of African American culture and history in America today. I am hoping they will find it interesting. Kerry read it over and said he thought it was good. We ran out of hot water today, too. We didn't know what was going on, so we contacted Carol, our savior. :) She contacted Miss Yang, who sent over a woman and a maintenance guy right away. It was determined that our gas had been turned off, so no use of the stove or shower today! I had a half of a salami sandwich, a slice of cheddar, a banana, a cucumber, and some grapes for dinner.
Thursday I caught up on my blogging and chatted with some students about their work on WeChat. One student told me that she wants to buy a Norton Anthology, but it costs 3000 RMB. I thought she mistyped something, but she wasn't kidding: 500 US DOLLARS FOR A NORTON ANTHOLOGY. This blew me away; no wonder they want us to assign things that are online for the students!! This makes much more sense to me now. Later in the evening, we had Thanksgiving dinner at Sasha's in the French Concession with Mark and Carol. The place was beautiful on the outside. I was pleased to get gifts from both Mark and Carol: Berea College stuff from Mark and a picture of the Fulbrighters at the US Ambassador's home. The buffet was good, but not great. The white meat of the turkey was very good, and I loved the mashed potatoes and salad. They also had a yummy brussel sprouts and bacon dish. But they were skimpy on the turkey portions and didn't provide me much dark meat. I also wasn't crazy about their stuffing or the Bloody Mary they gave me. They didn't have many dessert selections, either: an apple dessert, a brownie cake, and vanilla ice cream, all of which were okay but nothing to write home about. Still, I ate a lot. But I missed my home. I miss my family, and especially my mom.
Tomorrow--the cultural excursion event begins.
Here are some pictures from our Thanksgiving at Sasha's:
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| Looking sharp while waiting for a cab, outside our apartment. |
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| At Sasha's. |
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| Some of the Sasha's buffet. |
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| Kerry, Mark, and Carol at Sasha's. |
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