Happy Thanksgiving everyone! It was my second Thanksgiving since we don’t celebrate it in China. My friend cooked a turkey on Wednesday. It was his first time grilling a turkey, and we were quite excited about it. We got all the ingredients last weekend, and checked several recipes online. It seemed relatively easy to cook a turkey, but making a delicious turkey is a different story. I was not around when my friend was cooking. It took him almost the entire afternoon. Everything was ready when I got to his apartment. My friend made two toppings, one traditional, and one self-design. We also had mashed potatoes and fried vegetables. I helped cut the turkey, but apparently, my skill was so rough that the pieces turned out to be in different sizes and shapes. The turkey meat was savory, a little bit chewy, and more tasteful when mixed with the toppings, especially the black meat parts. I really love mashed potatoes. My friend didn’t put too much butter, but the milk made it sticky and palatable. I want to thank my friend who make the turkey and gave me the warmth feeling of home, and my friends who celebrated Thanksgiving with me.
I spent Thursday with my mentor’s family. My mentor is Lisa Coarkley from the communication and culture office. As a Global Scholar, I have chance to get a mentor, who I can turn to whenever I have questions. Lisa took me to her mom’s house for lunch. They had a big family of 18 people. Lisa’s brother Johnny who is a carpenter made an extra part for the table so that everyone could sit together. Moreover, Johnny built the house all by himself, which really amazed me. His wife is also good at crafts and she made a pretty Thanksgiving table cloth; she has a sewing room in the basement, and makes costumes during her free time. Grandpa John is interested in China and knows a lot about its history and culture. He also taught me the secret of cutting turkey into beautiful pieces. They were obviously much better cooks, and the food was very delicious. We started a fire in the courtyard to make smores after tea. Putting a half melted marshmallow and a piece of chocolate in the middle of two crackers tasted really good.
Later that evening, we went to Michael’s family. Michael is Lisa’s husband, and he is one of nine children, so his family is too big to have a sit-down dinner. There were around 40 people in the house having a party, chatting with each other, and enjoying turkey and bread. It was happy to see Michele, my mentor last year, and all her family members.
And then, it came to the crazy part of Thanksgiving weekend. We went to midnight Black Friday shopping in Woodbury Mall. We left Worcester at 8:30 pm on Thursday night. The traffic was not too bad until we were almost at the mall. There were thousands of cars waiting in lines and fighting to get into the parking lot. The final mile took us almost 1 hour. It was 12:30 am but everybody was energized rather than sleepy. My friends and I seperated into groups of girls and guys because we had different interests. The discounts were so attractive that I spent almost 100 dollar in the first shop, Polo Ralph Lauren, buying scarves and sweaters for my parents and relatives as Christmas gifts. All the stores were crownded and there were lines waiting both outside to get into the shop and inside for checking out. People brought large suitcases to store things they bought. I wanted to go to the Coach store but the line scared me away. The line for the Burberry store was very long at 5 am even though the store won’t open until 6am. It was rare too see such a mass of people in US and how crazy everyone was. Even though I didn’t go to every store I was interested in because of time and the lines, I achieved my goal of buying a winter coat for myself and Christmas presents for my friends and family. We didn’t leave Woodbury until 7 am. It was a great experience not only shopping, but also enjoying the Thanksgiving atmosphere.
posts by Qingyi
- Last post - April 25th, 2009
- Intramural Soccer Game, IA End of Year Party, and Open House - April 19th, 2009
- Spree Day and Men's Tennis Game - April 12th, 2009
- Entretour and International Gala - April 5th, 2009
- Worcester Consortium Career Fair, and IA events - March 29th, 2009
- Hip-hop, Ladies Night, and Volunteer - March 23rd, 2009
- Spring break and "Clark Bike Share" - March 16th, 2009
- Spring break! - February 28th, 2009
- Equestrian Show at U-Mass - February 23rd, 2009
- Horse Riding and Masquerade Ball - February 16th, 2009
- Intramural Basketball Game - February 8th, 2009
- Peace Project and GSP Academic Panel - February 1st, 2009
- Obama is in office! & Happy Chinese New Year! - January 26th, 2009
- Welcome Back - January 20th, 2009
- Last week of classes - December 14th, 2008
- Ginger Bread House Build Off - December 7th, 2008
- International Journey, Thanksgiving dinner and Peapod Squad Improv Show - November 23rd, 2008
- Financial crisis forum and a visit to a quilt store - November 16th, 2008
- Newport and presidential election - November 9th, 2008
- Halloween! - November 2nd, 2008
- a busy and fulfilled week - October 25th, 2008
- IA Bazaar - October 18th, 2008
- Barn visit and soccer game ( My friends won by 7:2!!!) - October 12th, 2008
- First Post on Clark Diaries! - October 5th, 2008
