A lot of times vocabulary comes out in class and the observant and/or awake students will ask, "Teechah, what is ______ mean?" On Thanksgiving Day (in Korealand) when I was describing the holiday and mentioned "turkey" I heard a lot of "Teechah, what is tuh-key mean?" I would describe what it looks like. The sound it makes. Draw it on the board. Act it out. In each of my classes, after my tirade of an explanation I would hear "AHHHHHHhhhhh! Teechah! Chicken!"
"No, it's not a chicken. It's a turkey"
"Yes, I know. It's chicken. CHEE-KEN." (Saying it slowly and and annunciating so I could understand them better).
We never met eye-to-eye on the matter but our Korean Thanksgiving lacked both a chicken and a turkey. However, it was abundant in friends, fun and the following:
It became very apparent that we live in a foreign country when we started thinking about the home cooked dishes we wanted to make. Usually, we cook asian-cousin versions of meals we enjoy in the US. Pasta with sweet asian tomato sauce. Cereal with soy sauce. You know, that sort of thing. But, for Thanksgiving we all wanted to make the exact comfort food that we look forward to every year. Sweet potatoes here aren't like their orangey, smooth US cousins. Marshmallows don't puff up the same way. It took weeks of planning with flow charts, menu drafts and grocery store scouting, but it was all worth it.
"What did it look like?" you ask...
"No, it's not a chicken. It's a turkey"
"Yes, I know. It's chicken. CHEE-KEN." (Saying it slowly and and annunciating so I could understand them better).
We never met eye-to-eye on the matter but our Korean Thanksgiving lacked both a chicken and a turkey. However, it was abundant in friends, fun and the following:
- a cheese platter
- deviled eggs (a party favorite)
- wine & booze
- pimento cheese spead
- walnut and fruit green salad
- smashed potatoes
- sweet potato casserole (with home candied walnuts)
- stuffing stuffed rolls
- baked root veggies
- creamy squash soup
- mushroom gravy
- herbed gravy
- cauliflower casserole
- homemade irish cream
- homemade blueberry and apple pie a la mode
It became very apparent that we live in a foreign country when we started thinking about the home cooked dishes we wanted to make. Usually, we cook asian-cousin versions of meals we enjoy in the US. Pasta with sweet asian tomato sauce. Cereal with soy sauce. You know, that sort of thing. But, for Thanksgiving we all wanted to make the exact comfort food that we look forward to every year. Sweet potatoes here aren't like their orangey, smooth US cousins. Marshmallows don't puff up the same way. It took weeks of planning with flow charts, menu drafts and grocery store scouting, but it was all worth it.
"What did it look like?" you ask...
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| The beginning of the spread. Tutu's pimento cheese made the list. |
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| Kenty and C-bass C-bass and his girlfriend,Cloe, visited from us from Singapore. Kent and Sebastian played soccer and lived together in college. C-bass even came to The Hutchison Thanksgiving, so he knew what it was all about. |
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| Sweet potato thing- The marshmallows are cute pastel colors. |
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| Deviled eggs, hooray!! |
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| Front row (left to right): Mashed potes, mushroom gravy, squash soup |
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| Heavenly cheese tray, not even provided by the Wisconsinites. It was a Canadian. |
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| The ceremonial Whiskey Walk Shane and Courtney's dad, Curtis |
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| Kent's blueberry pie was going like hot cakes... or... like hot pies... but actually you should wait for pie to cool down so it's not all runny, so... It was going like perfectly cooled pies |
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| Door Decorations. Turkey Hands made by my students, aka my own personal asian minions. |
It was a great day, even though we were all separated from our regular traditions and families, but something special and awesome happened when we recreated our most beloved holiday with our new friends. We all shared our own versions of Thanksgiving and Courtney even shared her Dad. He was visiting Korea at the time and even though they are Canadian, they played along like it was their own Boxing Day. Having a parent around gave the day an extra cozy, family feeling. Shane shared a Packer football game with us. After dinner the bedroom became the family den and while some people chatted over Shane's irish cream other people watched the game. I realized that my parents always do the dishes after the meal but luckily it was apart of another friend's tradition to the dishes.
We could never replace the comforts and flavors of our own Thanksgiving times, but for 2011 we were happy and made the most of our home away from home.
