Thanksgiving in Beijing

11.29.2009

I have to admit, I was getting a bit frantic when I realized I only had a handful of American friends here in Beijing, and the only one throwing a party & dinner was holding it on the day after Thanksgiving. Not only did I feel sad at the thought of doing nothing on the actual day, but I realized I wouldn't even be able to attend the Friday party either.

After reaching out to a few others, turns out my British boyfriend had an American friend/coworker who was trying to set up a small dinner at an American restaurant that serves the traditional fixings on Thanksgiving. So I ended up going to a place called, "Grandma's Kitchen" with 5 other Americans and 1 British person for our 'traditional' dinner. We paid about $30 each for a set menu that included an appetizer, salad, and soup, then a main course of turkey, mashed potatoes (regular & sweet potato), gravy, cranberry sauce, and stuffing. Our dessert choices were pumpkin or apple pie. Oh and we got a glass of red wine or a beer with our meal. Not too shabby for $30.

One of the girls at our dinner, Annie, brought some homemade oatmeal/chocolate chip/walnut cookies. We were completely stuffed but ate them anyway because none of us had had homemade cookies in ages.

After dinner, we then went to a small alley of hutongs that have shops & bars & cafes and went into a cozy Spanish bar to drink some hot mulled wine. It was my first time drinking mulled wine... it was really nice on a cold night and definitely put me in the holiday mood.

At dinner, I had tried to justify eating in a restaurant by saying we didnt have to spend all day in the kitchen and wouldnt have to worry about dishes or cleaning up afterward. My friend Jenea just looked at me and said, "but i like cooking and baking for Thanksgiving!" I said, "Ya....I do, too. Thanks for not letting me pysch myself out!"

Wasn't the most traditional or ideal Thanksgiving, but we made the most of it. I certainly missed my family and real homemade cooking-- I wished I had been in my real grandma's kitchen! But I'm truly grateful for my friends abroad and the chance to share international holidays with people from all over.