Thanksgiving in Hong Kong

Many people have sent us e-mails asking us how we celebrated Thanksgiving here in Hong Kong, so although the answer isn't anything too extraordinary I figured it was still worth a quick post.

Tom and I had Thanksgiving lunch at an Italian chain restaurant in our neighborhood called Fat Angelo's.


Frankly, it's our own fault. We waited way too long to investigate which Western restaurants were offering an American Thanksgiving menu to get a decent reservation.

That said, it was entertaining! A bottle of wine and a platter of turkey, moistened croutons, cranberry log, gravy, mashed potatoes and veggies hit the spot, even if it was nothing at all like our families (or most any Americans...) would ever make it!



Aside from our slightly unorthodox Thanksgiving feast, a few things about Thanksgiving here surprised me, including how many people knew about it. It would seem to me that, aside from July 4th, Thanksgiving is the ultimate American holiday with no relevance to any other part of the world. Yet so many people here are not just aware, but excited by Thanksgiving! Why would people in Hong Kong choose to celebrate the Pilgrim's survival of the first winter in colonial Massachusetts and their friendship with the Native Americans??

After asking a few questions, I realized that of course, most people simply enjoy the spirit of Thanksgiving-- a meal with family to give thanks for the blessings of the year. In fact, most people I asked had no idea about the traditional story behind it all.

I told a few students the story of the first Thanksgiving and they were actually baffled and a bit agog at it all. One terribly confused Korean friend even asked me why our country would have a national holiday to celebrate the genocide of an entire race. I tried to explain we were celebrating the friendship part of our history with Native Americans, not the later brutality... but he still thought we are all nuts.

Maybe he has a point, but I still wish we had been able to be in Alabama for a real roast turkey, pumpkin pie and some college football!




P.S.- In the spirit of the Holidays, here is Hong Kong's version of 'Chestnuts roasting on an open fire'... street corner edition.


(Yes, she is really roasting actual chestnuts!)