Thanksgiving: Asian Style

I have currently attended two Thanksgiving dinners, and then am off to my last one later this afternoon. All I can say is that I am truly thankful for the tables that I was blessed to sit around already. After two attempts to make butterscotch pie (one being in the rain on a motorbike) I realized that it is virtually impossible to make a good filling on the stove top without scorching it. So, I gave up -- but glad I gave it a try. On Thursday I had dinner with my family, which was so wonderfully normal. They had invited two other couples over (who happened to be from Indiana) to celebrate as well. It was fun sitting with my cousins and filling myself with turkey and mashed potatoes to the point of pain. Other than the fact that we had school on Thursday and Friday... it still felt like Turkey day! As I drove home on my motorbike, with my scorched butterscotch pie strapped to the back, I had to stop before I got to my house. The roadblock were monks standing in the middle of the street outside the temple lighting off fireworks. I just had to laugh, thinking when you drive home from Thanksgiving dinner in the states you don't see things like this. Just a reminder yet again that I do live in Thailand.

Yesterday I had the pleasure of eating at one of my student's homes. I have gotten to know their family quite well since they also host dinners for the Youth Group leaders. They are a YFC family, also hailing from Indiana, and feel like my adoptive family in town. They had their china set out, with crystal glasses. Good cheese from around the world with wine for appetizers and a beautiful dinner. They even had the Corn dish made of creamed corn and cornbread... mmm one of my favorites! The meal was complete with pumpkin pie with homemade whipped cream, and a cup of coffee. I really do feel so blessed that I could sit around this table and feel so loved. Then we looked out the windows and noticed that people had started letting off their paper lanterns in the sky for Loi Krathong. It was such a surreal moment where there we are eating a Thanksgiving meal, but then hear fireworks like the fourth of July going off outside. We went out and watched their high school son light off fireworks... it was such a sweet moment.