A Tianshui Thanksgiving

December 3, 2018

Thanksgiving is, of course, the fourth Thursday of every month, and I’ve felt in recent years that it is surrounded by a few days designed to capitalize on the holiday mood in a way that detracts from the “Thanks” part of Thanksgiving: Black Friday, Cyber Monday, and the rumors that the US (or perhaps the mega-companies selling goods and attempting to define the lives of consumers like you and me) might also attempt to force the Chinese Single’s Day (11.11) into the mainstream American consumer schedule.

Being in China for two Thanksgivings has really altered, or perhaps just confirmed, my own perspective on the holiday season, and the introspection doesn’t even reach that deep. What do I miss most? Is it Black Friday “deals,” or Cyber Monday “steals?” No. It’s my family, and the shared experience of making Thanksgiving lunch all morning, the drive to Grandma’s and the family dinner, snacks and chatting in a hotel basement with the faint reminiscence of chlorine that if I think about long enough seems to be recalled to my senses.

I was able to use WeChat to call my family, and I received a Thanksgiving card from my Grandma, which means so much to me, while I hope that she receives my letter soon – how she manages to find an express postal route to me while my letters take ages, I might never know – so the feeling of family is still with me this Thanksgiving, but this year, the family wasn’t alone. Some of my students and leaders of the English Association on campus came to my apartment on Thanksgiving night and had some hot pot with me, and my Wuwei host family stopped by and gave me a delicious nougat treat. And this weekend, all of my Gansu family – the other PCVs serving in the same province as me – planned a “Friendsgiving” get-together in Tianshui.

We have to start with a picture of food to balance out the pictures here in the beginning .. and you know it is a Thanksgiving dinner in China when nobody has even forks or spoons, or even thinks twice about eating everything with chopsticks anymore!

Tianshui is another city in Gansu (obviously), located to the southeast of Lanzhou (Wuwei is northwest of Lanzhou), and accessible by fast train from Lanzhou, or slow train from Wuwei. It’s a larger city than Wuwei, with its 3.26 million people almost doubling that of Wuwei, and coming in at about 56% of the population of the entire State of Wisconsin. It has at least two universities and vocational colleges, those where four of my fellow PCVs serve. Given that two of these PCVs have pretty nice, large apartments, and are extremely welcoming and open to sharing their space, Tianshui also serves as the annual Thanksgiving “Friendsgiving” meet-up location.

I wasn't in Tianshui long ... but it was warmer than Wuwei, beautiful, and marks another city on the map that I'll have to return and explore again.

It’s only a weekend trip, and from Wuwei it’s a bit far away, but sitting here on the Monday after Friendsgiving, I’m extremely glad that I was able to make it. It might have involved getting up at 3 am to leave my apartment by 4 am for the one hour walk to the train station for my 5 am train, two nerve-wracking and crucial switches of trains, a short run through the larger-than-expected Lanzhou West station, and a total of 16 hours on the train in 35 hours I was away from site during this weekend … but it was worth it.

It might be a bit dark on campus when walking at 4am, but in the city, there are streetlights along every road (so don't worry, Mom!), and I love walking through places late at night or early in the morning... I saw a new side of Wuwei that I'd never seen before.

I’m thankful this Thanksgiving for great friends and a great family; a great PCV community to work with, and a great community to serve, and; great students to teach and befriend, especially those that kept me company and chatted with me on the train, sent me well-wishes for a safe journey and shared plenty of Chinese music to occupy my train ride.

I’m thankful for my friend Rachel who let me stay with her during on Saturday night, and for my friend Michelle who was put “in charge of getting me to Friendsgiving,” for the fun afternoon making Elton John mashed potatoes (*don’t ask) with the two of them, and for Carolyn and Megan who hosted Friendsgiving in their apartments.

I’m thankful for my the two Returned PCVs who still teach in China and bought a turkey for us (or the meat-eaters among us) to enjoy during Friendsgiving, and for my friend James who cooked it up for everyone (despite the fact that he also tricked me into eating a durian flavored pastry – if you haven’t tried durian, consider yourself lucky).

I’m thankful for all the PCVs who brought food and laughter to Tianshui, and gave me enough memories in our 7 hours together to more than compensate for the train travel. I’m thankful that my two of my first friends in PC China, Sam and Diana, made it to Tianshui, and am thankful that Sam and I coordinated our outfits so amazingly well without a single word.

Of course, you can't get up on a chair to take a picture of the spread without getting photographed yourself ... or forget about the desserts at the end of the night!

And, as always, I’m thankful for all of you that take the time to share this journey with me, and for the experiences here in Wuwei that remind me that every day, not just Thanksgiving, is a day to give thanks.