I'm thankful for...

Last week, as many of you may know, was American Thanksgiving, where families (in accordance with American holiday tradition) gather together to stuff their faces and general remind each other of why they only do this once a year. Thanksgiving is, to me, a very important and special holiday for just that reason, so it's a pretty big bummer for me to not be with my family on Thanksgiving.

It was worse for me during my senior year in college, when I decided it wasn't worth the expense and time to fly to Houston (from DC), drive to Dallas, drive back, and fly back to DC all in the span of about 5 days, so I elected to stay in my apartment for the holiday. Of course, I was surrounded by all sorts of Thanksgiving stuff, so it killed me a little to not be with my family. (Thanks to a friend of mine staying in the city as well, there was still a wonderful dinner at a lovely restaurant.) This year, however, being in Korea made it a bit better, as I wasn't completely surrounded by American Thanksgiving (except in my classes, but that was all brought on by myself). That, plus my Korea family over here, made for Thursday that went by with only a small pang of homesickness.

That said, I DID have a thanksgiving with a family (albeit one to whom I am not related by a shared ancestry), and that's just one of the

THINGS I AM THANKFUL FOR

• I am thankful for bit torrenting and relatively fast download speeds. This way, I can keep up with my stories from afar and continue the slow, inevitable melting process that is consuming my brain.
• I am thankful for the Real Housewives franchise on Bravo, for reminding me just what a good person I really am.
• I am thankful for Regretsy (and specifically this post, very NSFW), because when you see it, you will shit bricks
• I am thankful for Sesame Street and the fine folks at PBS and the Children's Television Workshop, for making their content readily available on the internet, taking care of so much of my lesson planning for me.
• I am thankful to Korea for providing me with a cheap but fascinating place to live, endless sights to see, an abundance of delicious food, and a daily reminder of the importance of personal hygeine.
• I am thankful to the inventors of "time zones" for providing me with a wonderful experience in time travelling, so that I can live in the future (relative to people back in the States)
• Most of all, I am thankful to the amazing people I have met here, who have become, with no hyperbole, my Korea Family.
• What I'm really thankful for, however, was the Thanksgiving dinner this past weekend. 

I arrived at my friends Lionel and Mel's place on Friday evening to begin our American culinary adventure. Armed with (what seemed like) hundreds of pounds of groceries, a determined will, and Good Old-Fashioned American Ingenuity, we commenced our foray into creating a Thanksgiving in a country that does not cook western food. And Thanksgiving is, of course, ALL western.

Friday night started out...with some difficulties. Though our intention was to grab a quick bite to eat before heading up to Songtan to start baking, Jill's interesting bus ride (going the wrong way, finding the wrong bus terminal, taking seventy billion years to get to the Liomel's place) quickly nixed that plan. "Fine," I said to no one in particular (and likely worrying the natives about my mental state), "I shall simply head directly to Melionel's househome and hang out with them. And possibly eat dinner."

As a testament to what good friends they are, they even shared some of their dinner with me. 

The three of us - Lionel, Mel, and myself - lounged on the couch watching Arrested Development (the best show ever created) as we waited for Jill to arrive from her journey of terror. Finally, she made it, and I announced that the baking was indeed to commence.

Note the time: 8pm

The pie crusts started out fairly smoothly. The dough was made with little difficulty (but giant mess, as pie crust often makes), and I left the dough to cool while Melanie and Jill made their fillings for the pies. The first batch of pie crust came out beautifully. It rolled smoothly on the floured formica countertop, behaving completely appropriately as I lovingly laid it into the pie tins. The second dough...well, the second dough was made with a suspicious flour. It was NOT Gold brand all-purpose flour, but rather the Korean "Beksul" brand, which (though I am not sure) is likely made out of something ludicrous like dandelions. This dough simply would not roll. I cajoled and harassed, begged and pleaded, but NO DICE. Fortunately, there was enough dough left over from the first batch to complete the other two pie shells.

And then it was time for the macaroni and cheese. Naturally, I became completely unable to open a bag of pasta, and my first attempt successfully spilled about a half a cup all over myself, the counter, and the kitchen floor. Fortunately Lionel and Mel have a dog.

At some point, Meg showed up and bothered everyone (and also made stuffing, which was delish, and mashed potatoes (though those came later), which were also delish), and a pie was baked and another pie started and then it was 2:30am and OH EMME GEE IT IS TIME FOR BED. This was the plan: We would go to bed, and wake up at 8am to finish cooking in just enough time to put the turkey in at 9am. So I set my alarm, fully expecting other humans to wake up as well.

THIS DID NOT HAPPEN (I know, it's shocking). I woke up at 8:30...and no one else did. I threw the last pie in the oven (the tiny, tiny oven that could only hold a single pie at a time, but thank goodness it existed at all), and noticed our savior: the Butterball directions, which shaved two hours off our terrible estimate of the turkey cooking time. I sent Lionel back to bed (when he finally dragged himself out of bed), and collapsed on the couch to wait on the pie to finish.

The alarm buzzed and I checked the pie...in a cold oven. JESUS TAKE THE WHEEL.

Long story short (too late!), we put the turkey in the oven, and one by one the guests arrived. And you arrived and you arrived and you arrived and you arrived and--

GET ON WITH IT

Picture it: the turkey finishes to a delicious golden brown, and I am passed the drippings. I open the cornstarch to get started on the gravy, and BAM!

Cornstarch everywhere.

Chalk that up to another of Nolen's Thanksgiving (minor) Disasters.

The gravy's done, the table's set, and the 16 of us dig in to an incredible Thanksgiving feast. Special thanks to Andrea for her delicious cranberry sauce, sweet potato casserole, rolls and CINNAMON BUTTER.

The feast was amazing, the company better. Crashing on the couch after a marathon two days of cooking never felt so sweet. 

So the last thing I'm thankful for: I'm thankful for everyone who made this Thanksgiving the best Thanksgiving in Korea, EVER.