Yesterday was Thanksgiving, and I hope everyone had a great one. My Aunt Kathy is currently living with my mom, so there were three of us for the feast. My mom decided to cook (and stuff!) a chicken instead of a turkey. (Heehee, churkey.) I'm not entirely sure why she decided this, but it was fine by me, as I don't particularly like turkey. We also had three pies: pumpkin, sweetpotato and pecan. I really dislike sweetpotato pie. For years my mother has insisted that I wouldn't be able to tell the difference between pumpkin and sweetpotato, so yesterday I had a blind taste test. I immediately knew which one was yummy pumpkin pie and which was nasty sweetpotato. Hah! Anyway, the food was delicious, and even without a tryptophan-containing turkey, we all needed a serious nap after dinner. Here are some pictures of our feast:
And now for some random Thanksgiving tales:
While in college: Those of you from Lake City might possibly know who Cleopatra J. Steele is. For those of you who don't, she is a pastor of a somewhat cult-like church which operates just north of downtown Lake City in the rather, shall we say, ghettoish part of town. In addition to a church, she runs a thrift store and several halfway houses and homeless shelters, all in that neck of the woods. (My Aunt Kathy, the one currently living with my mom, suffers from severe mental illness. She has lived in a couple of Cleopatra's shelters, attended her church, and has known Cleopatra for years.) I've never been able to decide if Cleopatra is actually doing good, or if she's simply running a really good scam. Anyway, every year for Thanksgiving her church sponsors a dinner for the homeless and otherwise needy in an empty lot near her church. For two or three years while I was in college, Melissa and I (and sometimes her mom, sometimes my mom) would go to help serve the meals. Or well, the first year we went to help serve. After that we just went to eat. Yeah.
Thanksgiving 2001: Melissa and I had just returned from our really horrific trip to Korea. Melissa and most of her family went somewhere (North Carolina?). However, Alex (at the time Melissa's boyfriend, now her husband) and I remained in Lake City, taking care of Melissa's mentally and physically handicapped brother. Alex went home (to Macclenny, FL) for Thanksgiving dinner, and returned bearing tons of really yummy food. Yay! We watched a twenty-four hour Star Trek: The Next Generation marathon. Also, at some point during that weekend, Glenn and Stephanie stopped by. I'd just woken up and looked like crap and didn't want them to see me. I told Alex to tell them I wasn't there, but instead he invited them in and told them I was hiding behind the TV. Thanks a lot.
Thanksgiving 2003: I was living in San Diego, CA, and had been dating a certain guy since Halloween. Said certain guy had essentially no good qualities, except that he was a really good cook. He wanted to cook a true turkey-day feast, but between the supermarket workers strike and the fact that we didn't get around to shopping until the day before Thanksgiving, we couldn't find a turkey. So we bought and stuffed a chicken - my first churkey experience. And it was a delicious feast. If only said certain dude hadn't turned out to be a racist, sexist, alcoholic jackass, because he sure could cook.
Thanksgiving 2005: I was in Russia, and it was AWESOME. That day has it's own lengthy and picture-filled blog post, which you should totally check out by clicking here.
Thanksgiving 2006: For American Thanksgiving, I did not a damn thing. See, Korea has its own holiday of thanksgiving, called Chuseok. Chuseok 2006 was in early October (the date varies as it's based on the lunar calendar; Chuseok 2007 actually fell on my birthday, although I was no longer in Korea at the time). Anyhow, for Chuseok, I went with Gwen and Samson to his hometown for their family gathering and feast. It, too, was awesome and has it's own lengthy and picture-filled blog post, which you should most definitely check out by clicking here.
8 comments:
You know, I remember coming to see you, but in my mind it was just a random day - not around Thanksgiving. Hm...
Ah well, glad to hear your aunt is up there with you and that you had a good Thanksgiving!
This was my worst Thanksgiving ever. Most of the time, I just don't understand the world and our purpose in it. Do parents ever think about “their” children before bringing them into this troubled world, and whose god is the correct god to believe in? I'm willing to bet that the current religious fanatics/cults of the world all end up in the same boat as the ancient Egyptians, Greeks, and Romans, but we all need some sort of “hope” (love, job, family, future haven for our departed soul, etc.) to keep on trudging through this miserable world we inhabit. I honestly can't believe that so many “educated” people can call poverty, disease, famine, war, prejudice, elitism, and many other disgusting things “God's will,” while others have no problems using living, and departed, human beings as medical guinea pigs in hopes of becoming Gods themselves.
On Wednesday afternoon, there was a “tragic accident,” yes, accident, outside the entrance to our school academy in which the school bus ran over and killed a truly great young person who was just beginning her life. This horror was witnessed by many of our five, six, seven, and eight year-old students, as was the CPR attempt on this beautiful child by the school's owner. While she was rushed to the hospital, the bus driver somehow managed to get the kids home before returning and turning himself into the police who were now waiting at the scene.
This child was a true joy to teach. She wasn't the best student, but she was always happy, smiling, inquisitive, willing to share her snacks with everybody which included her teacher, and a true worth-while addition to this harsh world in which we live in. I still can't believe she is gone.
I can't begin to imagine the pain her parents are suffering right now and for the rest of their lives. Sadly (this being a very small school), everyone here is suffering too and walking around in shock.
Like I said earlier, this was an accident, but the driver will likely end up in jail because while there was accident insurance this culture also requires payment from the party that caused the damage—accident or not. This man makes less than a $1,000 a month, but will likely be asked to come up with $80,000 during negotiations with the police and family. Since he does not have this kind of money, he will end up spending time in jail. The consensus seems to believe it will be around one year.
There is also some worry as to what will happen to the academy. Will this end up being too much of a “loss of face,” and cause many students to drop out and force the academy to close? I was aghast to find out that we would be open the following day, but open we did, and it was actually quite a beneficial start to the healing process. There are no grief counselors in this country that I know of. It was also great to see that the parents of our kids realized it was an accident and called to voice their support of our school in this poor neighborhood. I was worried because without this school hundreds of kids would not get the same opportunities that those in more affluent neighborhoods get.
I already admired and respected the owners, but even more so now after seeing them go through this awful situation with strength I didn't know most people had. The same can be said about about my three other co-teachers who kept their heads and the other students occupied, while short-handed, during this crisis. However, my revulsion at the franchise that we operate under has reached new lows after witnessing these snakes slither in to cover their own asses while acting like they were here for us. Low-lifes.
I don't know what the fallout for the school and the driver will end up being yet, but I know that it was a truly horrific day, I wouldn't wish on anyone.
I really am going to miss that girl, and I'm pissed at myself for actually thinking why couldn't it have been one of the problem kids instead? Being human and having these types feelings really sucks at times.
Sorry I used up so much of your forum to vent, but it is better for me than blowing up at some of the little monsters in class who were saying some pretty bad things about her death without thinking, or understanding the finality, of what death really means.
Thanks.
oh god, that is simply horrible. one of our kids was hit by a car while leaving the school last year, although luckily wasn't seriously hurt. I hope you and your students will be able to remember her fondly. Good luck.
Thanks for the kind words and place to vent. I am the only foreign teacher at my hagwon, so I've been somewhat out of the loop as to all the goings on after the accident. The people I talk to the most are the owner and his wife--two really great friends of mine, but both have been in shock and have been too preoccupied in dealing with this tragedy and the aftermath for any real conversations at this time.
I was really thrown though when some people representing the school franchise had the gall to try and brush the incident under the rug and not mention that a young child had lost her life at all to the other students and their parents, and let "our" bus driver take all the rap. The owner quickly said no to that idea.
The bus driver really cared for these students, and it seemed the the accident happened as he was pulling up in front of the school building. The kids were jockeying for position to board first when either the little girl fell, or was pushed, under the rear tire before the bus had stopped completely. Most people, and the other students, say that she fell, but a few others feel that she might have been pushed. This same situation plays out at schools all over the world. I remember being involved in this same nonsense when I was a child as well, just never with such horrific consequences.
I also had to vent because a few of the more thick-headed kids seem to think nothing of the situation and laugh about the loss of a little girl's life as if it is a joke and no big deal. I could have ended up in trouble by speaking my mind to these punks, had I not gotten a grip on myself when listening to some of these little morons' comments. I did kick one out of class on the spot though. This isn't one of those asinine computer games where you can just hit the start over button again.
That's so terrible to hear, John. Please, vent away.
Thanksgiving 2001:
I have no memory of that! strange. I think that I am losing my mind!
Melissa
Also -- I hate sweet potato pie too! Yuck!
And that chicken looks really dead. For some reason holiday meat is really gross looking to me.
Melissa
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