Yesterday was Thanksgiving for us. Because it is not a holiday in Korea, we obviously couldn't get Thursday off. That doesn't matter to me. For about a month a few of the other ex-pats here in Donghae have been planning a Thanksgiving party. Because we all live in apartments that are far too small to have more than 10 people over, Amanda and Bob asked a club owner if we could celebrate at his club. Now, this might seem strange but the owner, Mini, loves foreigners. He has a few Korean friends, but the majority of his best friends are English speaking ex-pats. He was more than happy to open his club early so we could invade and start food prep.
Most of the people handling the preperations got there around 10 am. Pre-recorded football games were playing and drinks were flowing. However, I showed up later. Yoon mi finished work at 2pm and I picked her up and took her to an amazing coffee/tea shop. She had some lemon tea and I allowed myself a cappucino. Then we went home and I laid down a little bit to relax my back a bit before we went out. So, I ended up getting to the club around 5. One of my South African friends is getting married to a Scottish man. Hazel and Craig are fantastic and very fun to talk with. Because Craig is Scottish and Hazel is South African, they didn't really understand American football so well. Hazel helped me understand the finer points of rugby so that I could actually enjoy that game. So, when Hazel asked if she could come sit by me at the bar so I could teach her about American football, I was more than happy.
Around 6:30 the dinner was ready, I carved one of the chickens (we had turkey, but they are incredibly expensive here so the chicken was an essential supplement). When you have Thanksgiving in the US or Canada you get together with your family and have the same meal you had the year before and the year before that, generally. However, when you have Thanksgiving in Korea, you get together with your local family. Foreigners from all over the world and their Korean friends (and my family) gathered together and brought their own contribution to our potluck Thanksgiving dinner. We had people from all over the US, Canada, S. Africa, Australia, Scotland, Nepal, and S. Carolina. We could choose from the traditional foods, turkey/chicken, mashed potatoes, mashed potatoes with cheese, scalloped potatoes, green bean casserole, broccoli casserole, fruit salad, sweet potato pie, macaroni and cheese, stuffing and more. Furthermore, we could have Nepalese chicken curry, lamb kebobs, chicken skewers, and some other stuff that I just can't remember. For dessert, Bob and Amanda baked 12 pies! Pumpkin and Peanut Butter! oh my god! This Thanksgiving goes down in the annals of AMAZING DINNERS! Plus, the camaraderie is fantastic. I haven't been able to go out and see my Korean family since Halloween and it was really nice to see everyone. People were sympathetic about my back, offering suggestions and such. They were also very excited to see Yoon mi's little baby bump. It's so cute and little that its hard to not be excited!
Anyway, I ate a little bit of everything but the whole time I was worried about my diet. Today, I went to the sauna and weighed myself. After that entire dinner and 2 beers, I gained about half a kilogram. So, It's a step in the wrong direction but what a delicious and beautiful backward step!
No comments:
Post a Comment