Thanksgiving has to be one of my favorite holidays, for so
many valid reasons (at least I feel they’re valid). To name only a few of these
reasons:
-It’s a time for family and friends to gather (at my house
that means to come together with food, drink and a dance or two in the
kitchen).
-October is a wonderful month. It’s a month of fresh air,
fall colors, blushed cheeks, boots and scarfs and the sound of leaves crunching
underfoot.
-It’s not a holiday about presents; rather, it’s about good
company, interesting conversations and laughter.
Although I couldn’t be home to celebrate this wonderful
Holiday with my family and friends I am very thankful to have been able to
celebrate it with my China Family in our own way.
I would like to first begin by explaining (in not too much
detail) that my Thanksgiving had a rough start this year on account of a bout
of food poisoning. I suppose my body was trying to get Everything out of its
system before the feast on Sunday…either way, it made for a difficult Thursday
night and Friday. Nevertheless, Jennie, Kathryn and I were able to make it over
to HK for the day on Saturday where we bought Kathryn’s new iPhone and my new
iPod (mine was stolen at the gym), exciting stuff! We puttered around the great
city, had a deliciously light lunch at Life Restaurant & Bar (first 'meal' since Thursday) and then headed home on the bus. I do love living in a city where I can pop over to HK for an afternoon, for the price of a cab into downtown
Fredericton, NB…
I woke up feeling much better on Thanksgiving Sunday and was
ready to try to adapt some of my beloved Hooper Family Traditions of The Day of
Thanks. All the while being well aware that this could be difficult as the weather is very different here and my kitchen is the size of my dish washer back home. But! I did my best with what I had.
The day began with a lovely walk around the park with Kathryn (in shorts and a tank), a stop at the veggie/fruit stand and a fresh mango smoothie. {At home I would have gone for a walk with family but the sights, sounds, smells and clothing choices would have been very different.} After cleaning my house while dancing around to The Blues Brothers (frequently played in the Hooper family kitchen) Kathryn and I successfully created a healthy gluten and wheat free version of apple crisp in my little oven and enjoyed taste testing with some coffee and sharing with friends J
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| Our delicious Thanksgiving creation in my mini-oven! |
At 6pm the ISNS China family gathered on the 3rd floor lounge for our
Thanksgiving Potluck and My Goodness the amount of food was incredible, it all
smelled so delicious! I suppose this is as good a time as any to quickly thank
food poisoning recovery/being gluten and wheat free for making me have
what turned out to be probably the most healthy, balanced, non-indulgent Thanksgiving
yet…
Although I was not able to spend Thanksgiving at home in my
lovely little town with my family, I do feel extremely lucky to have been able
to spend it here in Shenzhen with my China family; the next best thing! I am
very thankful not only to be surrounded by so many wonderful people here but
that I have so many special people to miss around the world.
Feeling Thankful.
Peace & Love Everyone
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