CHINA
Country Overview:
“Love the food, hate the government”
I arrived in China in May 2013 and left August 2020. I taught English for awhile, did my master’s of politics & foreign policy at Tsinghua University, worked for a year at China Today, and then two years at Xinhua News Agency. I spent most of my time in Beijing, but also traveled to Shanghai, Wuhan, Inner Mongolia, Shenzhen, Panjin, Guangzhou, Tianjin, Qingdao, Xi’an, Sanya, Macau, Taiwan, and Hong Kong.
Thanksgiving
It’s weird not being back in America for Thanksgiving. In Beijing, I know the holiday is approaching, and I know I’ll do something that involves turkey, but I think the biggest difference is the lack of atmosphere. Not a lot of people are talking about it beforehand, there aren’t any window decorations or annoying advertisements talking about “Thanksgiving specials!” I also don’t have an oven in my apartment, so cooking my own Thanksgiving dinner was out of the question. Ended up going out with a friend to a nice Mexican restaurant who did their spin on the classic turkey meal.
