In the Midst of So Many Noodles, I'm Thankful For Burgers

Soooo,

What's new?

I have gone to two out of my three scheduled Thanksgiving dinners, none of which fall on the actual Thanksgiving day. But it ain't no thang; I'm enjoying what I got.

Today was an interesting day. It was, in fact, a day off, but it was very busy. I had a scheduled company meeting, which turned out to be a sort of award ceremony event...90% of which was in untranslated Chinese. Although I'm sure you all have grandiose ideas of me in Shanghai being a Mandarin chatterbox, I did not understand a word. So needless to say, it was a long couple hours. We foreign teachers were informed literally right before it started that we would be going on stage to sing Bryan Adams "Everything I Do, I Do It for You."

Hardly any of us knew the lyrics besides the titular section, so we just hid behind the louder people and swayed. It was awkward. Thankfully we had a live Wechat session between a few of the foreign teachers to liven up the ceremony with colorful Western commentary.

After that, I went to my second Thanksgiving dinner, which was with one my small groups. This is the one with the generally older, married couples. Although now I won't use that word "older" to their face, as I got a lot of grief for it. Anyways, during the dinner we were told to write our name on a piece of paper and pass it around the room. We then had thirty second to write some form of encouragement and thanksgiving for the names on the paper.

Once I got mine back, I had some very encouraging and heartwarming notes. Those, however, are not the ones I'm going to mention. Here are my top three favorite thanksgiving notes written to me:

1. "Great hair." (That particular note went on to write stuff about my character, but this is the only part I wanted to transcribe.)

2. "I think it's great that you're brutal and sarcastic like me and Bet." (A note from a married couple who have a harmonious sense of humor with me. We have a nice back and forth.)

And my all time favorite:

3. "Sometimes you open your mouth and I don't know what you're saying - I like that." (This is what I want written on my tombstone)

Anyways, my last Thanksgiving dinner is next week. Ironically, it'll be hosted by my South African friend. I need to take care of the vegetables, so I need a Thanksgiving vegetable recipe.

Also, there's this boy I pass every time I walk to one of my small group. He's probably about 11 and he knows enough English phrases to try and sell me the oranges he's always peddling.

Boy: (Upon seeing me, the blond-headed foreigner) Hello, How are you? Oranges, switt, yummy!

I'm never like super in the mood for oranges, but I can't resist buying them; this kid's just too cute. But now he thinks I'm Mr. Money Bags and he gets super excited every time he sees me. ("Hello, my good friend! Oranges, yummy!")

After so much China commuting, I've gotten used to all the conversation being a nonsensical buzzing in the background of my life. Now, the concept of being able to eavesdrop on public conversation sounds like a super power. I was walking by some English speakers tonight, a girl and a guy:

Girl: "Tell me the most private thing about you. Like, I own a Pikachu one-sie."

Good on you, American girl. Live loud.

That's all I got. I'm coming back to 'Murica in February for 2 weeks. I imagine about 8 days will be spent in Tampa and North Carolina with family, and about 6 days in Orlando.