Happy Thanksgiving

Now, how does one spend a Thanksgiving in Korea????

Well, here's how I spent mine:

What's the one food you love more than any other at Thanksgiving??? Is it the turkey? The stuffing? The mashed potatoes and gravy? The gravy??? Olggghhh......gravy.......on everything.....mmm

For me it's pumpkin pie. I could eat a whole pumpkin pie by myself. So, I sought out pumpkin pie. Where else in Korea could you find pumpkin pie except for Costco. Ohhhhh, bless your heart, Costco! You have so much heart, Costco! And so much pumpkin pie!!! So, I bought 4 pumpkin pies. One for my co-teachers and I to share. One for the Thanksgiving group. And 2 for me.


But, really, what would Turkey day be without turkey? Nothing. Just another massacre and backstabbing celebrated by Americans (see martyr St. Valentine and Columbus Day). So, I did what any Costco loving individual sans stove would do. I bought sliced deli turkey at hearty Costco! Now, it didn't taste the same as a that Thanksgiving Turkey at my parent's house. And I didn't eat turkey 'til I passed out. At least I can say I had turkey this T-day.

In all seriousness what makes Thanksgiving is spending time with your family. That's what made this Thanksgiving so difficult. Louis, who spent 2 years abroad in China, said, 'Thanksgiving is the hardest holiday to be abroad. I was more homesick on Thanksgiving than I was on Christmas.' I was definitely feeling that way, yesterday. I spent the day in my office torturing myself by looking for Turkey Day lesson plans' material online at youtube. That was brutal. But my family here made it easier for me.

A few of the native teachers in our group arranged a T-Day potluck (/potlatch) at Tony's apartment. Everyone brought something of their own to the party. It was a pretty good meld of Asian food and american cooking. Sadly, there was no mashed potatoes and gravy.


We did the standard go around the table and give thanks for our new found friends, our jobs, families, etc. And we, also, told each other our first impressions.....I got a lot of funny compliments about my humor and the usual, 'WTF is this guy doing?' Like Lavleen and Gagan who first met me when I making sexy poses in my Superman t-shirt on a window sill....yeah. And I gave out my first impressions like those about Ryan, "When I first met Ryan, I thought 'WOW, THIS GUY IS LOUDER THAN ME? AND THAT'S DIFFICULT'" Ryan has left the funniest first impressions on people. The best was when he was getting to know Lavleen and Gagan at their apartment. He looks out the window and says,'Wow. You got a great view.....of shit.' The room went silent. And he put his head down instantly regretting his decision to speak. He didn't even know the two of them at the time. Classic.

All in all it made the homesick day bearable. But nothing replaces your family.

But I saved the best for last. Yesterday, I brought a pumpkin pie to school to share with my co-teachers. After lunch we shared the pumpkin pie together. Oh, man, was it good!

Over pumpkin pie we discussed marijuana. Yes, you read that correctly. I spent my Thanksgiving talking to my co-teachers about why people like Marijuana and how much it costs over slices of pumpkin pie. The topic came up because of a news special the night before about marijuana, native teachers, and Koreans. So, I gave them as much information as I could muster about domanchu (sp? --Korean for Weed). They were asking tons of questions. And I explained everyone and their mother smokes in Canada and all the hippies in the Northwest, too. Oh, and Hawaiians. I explained that a lot of people all over smoke the U.S. and Canada. i told them why they smoke. I talked about medicinal marijuana. And how one person very close to me is a card carrying member. And they explained to me how dangerous it is to smoke here. If you go on a trip outside the country and come back with weed and distribute it, the police will come to trace the native teacher's steps. Then goodbye, you're deported. Smart move. They take weed very seriously over here. This is a hardworking culture where soju is king. You don't mess with soju.


Notes:

My main co-teacher Ms. Yoo is on the IR for 10 school days. So, I have a substitute. I can't remember her name even though she just told me 30 minutes ago. ....UGH. Miss you, Ms. You!