November 23: Happy Thanksgiving!

Happy Thanksgiving!

Today is the day after Thanksgiving, but looking at the clock I realize that it is still Thanksgiving in the homes of most of our loved ones. I hope that the day has been full of joy as you give thanks for the blessings of the year.

Our last week was full of the adventures of spending time connecting with kids. Brad had the boys over to play Settlers, and we hosted two English corners. The kids requested slide shows, so Brad shared some of our stories, and Shannon shared her sister’s love story. Newt followed up with a message of love and relationships. On Wednesday night I saw Brad off at the train station. I spent the week eating a lot of Chinese lunches and dinners with the girls. I finally took a student (and Shannon and Maple joined us too) along so that I could buy a comforter big enough for Brad and I. We’ve been sleeping under separate twin-sized comforters (on one bed) since we got here! Shannon and I graded papers together, I played volleyball with seven girls, and two students showed me how to prepare frozen jiaouzi (Chinese dumplings). A week later they also showed me where to find the “sweet bread” on campus. The kids are always so helpful!

Yesterday was Thanksgiving, and it was such a sweet time for us to be together. Shannon and Peter brought bread, cream corn, biscuits, no-bake-cookies, and ginger snaps. Claire brought gravy, chocolate truffles, cranberry sauce, stuffing, pumpkin pies, and cranberry pumpkin bread. Brad boiled the potatoes, sweet potatoes, and green beans. Newt purchased the chicken and I provided the green bean casserole, sweet potato souffle, and mashed potatoes. Tony and Lily provided the fruit, corn-on-the-cob, shrimp, and wine. It was a feast! And I’m probably missing something too! We ate until we couldn’t eat anymore. There were a lot of leftovers too! Mmmm… After dinner we shared our thanks for our blessings, tossing a small football from person to person as we took our turn to share. Then Newt led us in the Supper. We talked and sang together, then served one another. It was a wonderful time of joy and thankfulness, shared by all.

As I was writing this letter, my family called from their Thanksgiving festivities. It reminded me again of how grateful we are for the love and support of our family and friends. Thank you again for your thoughts, your words, your gifts, and your service. You make our work here possible. Thank you…for everything.

Always,
Jess