Let the Holiday Rumpus begin!

Thanksgiving, as with many other holidays in the expat community around here, was celebrated in rounds and with gusto. 

As you saw in posts prior, I set to busily bake breads (intentional alliteration) on Wednesday evening, while watching a fave holiday movie, Miracle on 34th Street (it starts out with Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade). It's a tradition in my family that we have that movie playing on repeat (as dad watches it through his eyelids while snoozing on the couch), among other holiday movies (such as the Charlie Brown Thanksgiving) over the long Thanksgiving weekend. I was setting the mood for my holiday baking.

On Thursday at school, I brought some of my mini muffins (banana and corn breads) to share with my students and Chinese colleagues at AIAN. Bit hit. I also taught the high schoolers how to draw turkeys from the outline of their hands. Also a big hit (almost equally as exciting as the food, apparently). Go figure, but international kids never learned how to make paper hand-cutout turkeys when they were in kindergarten.

Thursday Thanksgiving dinner was spent with fellow Americans living in our international community. One of our American families hosted the gathering of about 50 other American citizens and families. It was a traditional "family" holiday gathering: kids running around, American football on the TV, the Macy's Day parade being aired live (because while it was our evening here in China, dawn was breaking on the East Coast), and, of course, so much food with which to overfeed yourself (all the traditional foods: stuffing, turkey, corn casseroles, green beans, mashed potatoes and gravy, apple and pumpkin pies and other apple/pumpkin crisp desserts of various sorts).

Meal time!

Kari and I on Thanksgiving, with the feast table behind us

And it's already beginning to look a lot like Christmas at AIAN.
Thanksgiving Day, the PTA moms (as well as a couple dads)
set to decking the halls for the Holiday Bazaar this weekend.

Friday was Day One of the Holiday Bazaar and Book Fair at AIAN. Vendors and merchants were there selling their wares alongside our StuCo (Student Council/ASB). It was a busy day, with classes still going on, and people trafficking the school building and halls as well. But it was delightful, because holiday atmosphere is now in full swing! It's so homey and warm, while the weather is wet and blustery outside.

Gingerbread making and festivities abound!
Our dining room table was covered with...
... SUGAR!

That evening, Kari and I hosted a holiday "open-apartment," for the simple purpose of enjoying one another's company, in the spirit of sharing joyous holiday merriment! Instead of the "American" Black Friday shopping tradition, we practiced our combined traditions of holiday activities, preparing for the Christmas season:  

* playing Christmas music

* sipping on cider and mulled (spiced) wine

* making count-down paper chains

* cutting snowflakes

* decorating a gingerbread house and cookies

* playing games

* watching/playing movies in the background (namely White Christmas)

Catch Phrase is quite entertaining with combinations of
various ages, languages/nationalities represented in the room.

Knitting and crafts in the living room

Cookie decorating

Kari eyes Javier's cookie

Diego takes completes the pass and makes a run for it!
(It actually resulted in a touchdown!)
There is a great series of photos & video footage I shot from this game

Thanksgiving celebrations continued on Saturday. The Holiday Bazaar continued at school, and in the afternoon, we had a game of flag football. All ages. Jett and I hung out on the sidelines and taught the other little girls hanging around a couple of cheers. We ran around the track (with Jett) chanting them and doing our best to fill the "Cheerleader" role, "L-E-T-S-G-O, let's go, let's go! L-E-T-S-G-O, let's go!!"

The evening was filled with more turkey, stuffing, gravy and mashed potatoes, another batch of my cornbread, veggies & casseroles, rolls, and even cranberry sauce this time! Dessert was worth seconds as well: pecan pie, my banana bread, and other yummies! This time around, the community feast was hosted at the Cup o' Joe cafe. The night culminated with roasting mallows and making s'mores, while sitting 'round the fire pit singing to the guitar, as well as playing some lively rounds of charades and other games. Photos from that night to come.

I can't wait to watch my other holiday traditional movies when we go on break in a few weeks: It's a Wonderful Life, Holiday Affair, A Christmas Carol, and the holiday special animated shorts such as How the Grinch Stole Christmas, as well as the claymation series of: Rudolph the Red-nosed Reindeer, The Year Without a Santa Claus, and Frosty the Snowman, among others.