Thanksgiving in China

Erik Here. Thanksgiving in Shanghai was a bit lonely being without family. However, we got together with a couple of our American friends to celebrate the holiday. We ate at an American restaurant that was offering a Thanksgiving dinner. It was a lot of fun. Akio, did you go to my sister's?

It felt a little strange going to class and work on Thanksgiving (Me and one other student were the only Americans to show up that day). I am glad I went that day, because I found out that I got an A on my Oral exam and B on my written exam. That made the day much better.

We joined a gym last week. It was only 900 yuan (120 dollars) for the entire year. The price included personal training services, and all the classes we want to take. My trainer is a huge chinese guy who calls himself "hulk" because Hulk Kogan and the Incredible Hulk are his heroes.

We truly have a lot to be thankful for this year.

Amara here. Thanksgiving was good this year. We had a good night with our friends. We've been keeping busy with work and studying Chinese. Like Erik said, we joined a gym and its been a lot of fun. I joined with one of my Chinese girlfriends and we take all kinds of classes together, yoga, salsa and belly dancing, and pilates. So Erik and I have both been on a bit of a health kick lately. The Chinese are so healthy! It makes going to McDonalds a little embarrassing. Oh, also, good news! I finally have my work and residence permit. I ended up not having to take another health exam (which costs about $100) so I was thankful for that. Now I am finally working legally in China. Also, we are free to travel in and out of China and I don't have to waste more money on visas to get back into the country.

Here are some pictures from Yuyan Gardens and one from Thanksgiving: