Thanksgiving Dinner 2009
JISHOU, HUNAN — On the spur of the moment, I decided to invite the other four Americans in Jishou to Thanksgiving dinner. Since two of them live right above me, the original plan was to meet at my place.
Then I thought, why not invite some Chinese friends, too? After all, there are many people who have been my family here, but I have never had them in one place at the same time. By the time I got done compiling a guest list, I had 20 names! I can squeeze at most nine people into my apartment at any one time, so clearly we would have to go to a restaurant.
The other Americans were fine with eating out, and since I teach six classes on Thursdays, it was by far a better idea than cooking at my home.
I had this brilliant idea Monday night. Perhaps I’ve gotten enculturated, because the people around here seem to spring dinner plans on you at the last moment. Planning, schmanning. So, I got busy with my cell phone and sent a flurry of texts to my friends on Tuesday morning.
At lunch, I talked the plan over with my friend, Frieda. Her favorite restaurant is Zejiahu, which is near the north gate of the university and which is where our college’s graduates held a dinner in June. The food is really good and the service, very prompt.
