So readers, how was your Thanksgiving? Enjoyable? Dramatic? Peaceful? I think since I came to the US in 1999, I've had all kinds of Thanksgiving. My favorite one was my last year in grad school when my then boyfriend, now husband, decided to cook a Thanksgiving dinner for the "orphans", as he put it: those of us without family in the area, who could not go back home, or that were not even from the US. That dinner was probably the first one I participated where I felt a real sense of community. We both remember it as something special.
This time, we were invited to some friends' parents house. We went, it was pleasant and uneventful. It was a lunch, so we were back at home by 5 pm, stuffed but not grossed out for how much we had eaten. Then, we watched on DVD one of Jackie Chan's best movies: Drunken Master, from 1978. If you can get past the atrocious dubbing (or quarter of a dubbing, since the characters would speak in English for 3 minutes and then in Chinese the following 20), the movie is sheer genius. Jackie Chan seriously is Buster Keaton heir, the choreographed battles are hilarious and I couldn't help but think how the movie was the anti- Karate Kid. Today, we went to see J. Edgar, Clint Eastwood's portrait of J. Edgar Hoover. I'll devote a whole post to the movie, but, contrary to what many reviewers have said, I thought it was a masterpiece. A masterpiece that will make people uncomfortable and leave many unsatisfied. That, in my opinion, is what a great director is able to do.
Of course, my shopping spree didn't stop with my last post. It was all done online, though. As I get older, I hare crowds more and more. It was certainly excessive, but whatever. I love being frivolous and abusing my credit card. Besides, we need to stimulate the economy, right?
What about you? How was your Thanksgiving? Any highlights? Any shopping? Any drama? Share your stories!!!
one of my favorite thanksgivings is also the year I went to the graduate student orphan thanksgiving.
ReplyDeleteOne of my favorites was as an undergrad when one of my profs hosted "orphans" and some of his friends. Not only was the food great (this was back when I still ate turkey) but one of this prof's friends was the famous sexologist John Money (now deceased). I leave it to your imagination what the dinner conversation was like!
ReplyDeleteAs for shopping this year, I did some serious damage yesterday! Made the mistake of wandering into an Anthropologie store. Granted I stuck mostly to the sale items, but I like their clothes way too much for my own good.
Yes, those graduate orphan Thanksgivivng are special.
ReplyDelete@Recent PhD: wohoo... I just hope the conversation didn't involve turkeys (just saying, I have a dirty mind). And Anthropology can do damage. It is usually not the cause of my troubles, because due to my body type, I really need to try things on before buying there. There is one in my area, but unless I am going to the mall, I won't drive 15 minutes in the freeway to get there.
My favorite, favorite, favorite Thanksgivings were those during grad school, when we were all orphans. One time only 25% of our dinner party consisted of Americans or others (like Canadians) with any preconceived ideas about the holiday feast. It was great -- and lacked some of the, um, family drama that family reunions can incur.
ReplyDeleteI had a few Thanksgiving in the rural South as the guest of the mother of a friend. They were...interesting. I will be forever grateful to that woman for her unconditional hospitality, but I can do without the yelling and screaming.
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