My American Thanksgivings:)

2010 Thanksgiving for the very first time

Meggers Macphaden is one of my first friends in Seattle. She is the first person that reached out to me when I was establishing a new life in America. As a local Seattlite, Meg has a very cohesive family and friend circle -a core that intimately provides her constant support.

(Meg's mom showed her turkey around the room.)

Meg is exceptionally willing to share her family love with me. What Megan has in her family is all that I have in Taiwan, hard-working and fun-loving parents, who are somewhat protective of their daughter and always have to deal with the girl's adventures that make them gasp.

                                                            (We are a pair of troubles.)

I imagined myself as the Caucasian newcomers that wanted to express my gratitude to the natives. I made Kimchi fried rice, and absolutely loved Meg's mom's Southern-style cooking with a Northwest touch. It was my first time having brussel sprouts, and I totally loved them! I also fell in love with American pie, which are not really good for your waist line especially when you eat it with ice cream, but yum.....!!

                                                                     (A table of yummies!)

I was shocked when Meg's dad volunteered to do dishes and her boyfriend at the time helped make food and clean up too. Coming from a traditional Taiwanese family, boys usually don't do kitchen stuff unless they are told to do so. Some women consider kitchen their territory that they do not want men to touch anything.

                                                 (Do I not look like an adopted daughter?)

I was pleasantly surprised by how American men are helping out in the kitchen, and is glad that my brother and some Asian boys in my generation are taught well in this respect. Still, I consider cooking as my pride of being a woman, just like how meeting other social expectations empowers me.

2011 Thanksgiving with Northwest Islanders

It took me a while to figure out what to make for Ellen's family. Ellen is another friend of mine who is also a Washington native, to be more specific, a native islander. She grew up on Vashon, a Puget Sound island full of hippies and rednecks.

                                                               (They raise chicken for eggs)

Ellen's family is absolutely hippie-ish, extremely liberal minded, health-conscious diet (local/organic), and have their own chicken and goats. I wanted to bring something they would surely eat, so definitely not some weird Asian food or Americanized Asian food, but baked yam chips, very basic and simple, catering to hippies of all regions.

                                           (We had a great dinner and a great hike the next day!)

We went on a hike the next morning with Ellen's lovely parents and puppy-super healthy activity right after Thanksgiving. Ellen's family is full of love as well, but not as expressive as Megan's. They're fun too, but calm and mellow, whereas Meg's family is more goofy and playful. It's great how family love is contagious and continue to warm my heart in my Seattle life.

2012 Thanksgiving with Japanese American family

My friend Mariko is a 4th generation Japanese American. It is impressive how they can stick to their cultural heritage for 4 generations straight in the melting pot. You'd think the family is full of traditions, but they are just as fun as other American families I've met.

                                                   (Mariko's warm smile and asparagus!)

Mariko has her Japanese and American elements. She's a small, friendly, and sweet Asian girl, and is also an adventurous, outdoorsy, and independent American young lady. Her parents are hardcore fisherman, and all of them cook fine cuisines.

                                                           (Another table of yummies!!)

I was expecting a ton of seafood but ended up having a lot of good meat and pies! There's also rice, sticky rice, and Asian-style pork and sweet potato. I made pumpkin ribs for them, modified from a Taiwanese dish-pumpkin pork. This is one of the few times I can make an authentic Asian dish without worrying that ppl won't eat it.

                                                      (Mariko's parents and friends)

I went climbing and hiking with my new Northwest friends on that weekend. It starts to feel like I am having my own circle and not always tagging along somebody else's family or partner circle. Transition is hard cuz you don't have a core, and at the same time you are not anyone else's priority. I'm glad my solid interest is making me a seemingly solid friend group that I can count on to hang out with.

          (Greg broke my stereotype of flaky Northwesterners cuz he makes things happen.)

And as always, always thankful to those that reach out to me and make me feel like home in my American life. That's what Thanksgiving is all about, sharing and giving, and love.