Week Thirteen: Thanksgiving and Disneyland

From where I'm currently siting in Pacific Coffee, I can hear Frank Sinatra singing something that's dripping with holiday cheer, the scent of coffee fills the air, and tacky fake snowflakes are hanging from the ceiling. My friends and I have claimed our usual spots on the couches and chairs, where our laptops click away on assignments and Facebook chats. A coffee server just walked by to say hello, and commented that we've all been rather quiet today (apparently our holiday cheer normally takes on a louder volume). Sometimes I have to remind myself that I'm actually leaving Hong Kong soon, and that everything that seems so normal here is going to be over in 18 more days.

All of the holiday spirit around HK has made me miss home tremendously. I actually think I've been more homesick in the past week than I was during my first month here. Thanksgiving is my favorite holiday, and I've never been away from my family for it until this year. My friend Joey (another American) and I had the idea earlier in the semester to have our own Thanksgiving feast so we could share our holiday traditions with our friends here.

Normally, I roll out of bed sometime around eleven on on Thanksgiving, walk out to the living room to catch the last bits of the Macys parade, and eat a nice big breakfast that will last until dinner is ready. We couldn't watch the parade here, but our day began with a hearty breakfast of omelettes, followed by an afternoon of napping and Arrested Development DVDs. That afternoon, we trekked to the local grocery store in search of the necessities we'd need to prepare our feast. Around seven that evening, we all came together for a great dinner after some extensive planning, hours of cooking, and some clever improvisation (we had to buy thickly sliced turkey from the local deli, since HKBU doesn't trust its students enough to have ovens in the residence halls; also, we used empty beer pitchers to pour gravy).

Devon, Simone, Nicola and Marie preparing mashed potatoes and crepes

My contribution, pumpkin pie

Our Thanksgiving table

Joey, displaying our gravy containers- American ingenuity at its finest.

After our meal, Devon showed everyone how to make hand turkeys. There's something about giving a group of 20-somethings access to crayons and paper that brings out everyone's inner 5-year-old. Between the food, the turkeys, and the pumpkin pie (which apparently isn't popular in other countries?!?), we convinced everyone why being an American is so great for at least one day a year.

All of the hand turkeys

The Thanksgiving group

Of course, no Thanksgiving would be complete without some kind of Christmas movie to end the night. Luckily, someone had Elf on DVD, so we finished our day with a healthy dose of Will Ferrell-infused holiday laughter.

The next day was my friend Nicola's birthday, and she wanted to go to Disneyland to celebrate. Although Disneyworld is only a short distance from Stetson, I haven't bothered to go since I was nine years old; suffice it to say, the shortage of Disney magic in my life revealed itself as we neared the park. I firmly believe that if China can pump chemicals into the air to make snow fall, then Disneyland could very possibly be pumping endorphins into the air. Whether or not that's actually the case, I found myself smiling and giggling like I was nine years old again from the moment I stepped through the gate.

Our group in front of Cinderella's castle

Disneyland reminded me of Magic Kingdom (well, from what I remember of it, at least). We found Space Mountain and rode that three times; took a spin on the carousel; took a faster spin in the Mad Hatter teacups; and my friend Stefan and I floated through a Christmas-themed replication of It's A Small World. We even found Buzz Lightyear!

All of us, posed with the Galactic Alliance's strongest member

A few months ago, a friend of mine from high school emailed me to let me know that his ship was going to be stationed in HK over Thanksgiving weekend. I hadn't seen my friend Fraley since I was in 9th grade and we had drama class together, so it was wonderful to catch up with each other.

Fraley and I posing with Merlin

By the end of the day, we were all excited to see the Christmas tree lit up and to see the fireworks show. I tried to take pictures, but they didn't turn out quite right; so enjoy this short video.

I don't know if it was the Disney magic or all the holiday spirit floating in the air, but I can't describe how happy I was to share this weekend with good friends, new and old.

Merry Christmas!