2016-11-25

【Aiden in English】

        China Grace Christian Church, every year, hosts an annual Thanksgiving feast and an hour or so of service. I think everyone going really is sacrificing time, as it takes place on the night of Black Friday. In any case, most of the people here are expecting to have a good time, which is what usually happens every year at these events.

        However, there are many issues with the Thanksgiving traditions that I have. I enjoy football, love the days off of school (really needed), and embrace the beautiful seasonal colors. I cherish the Black Friday shopping massacres- I mean, sprees. I’m also crazy about it… most of the food.

        In modern Chinese culture, parties have food and drinks come first. Sure, everyone wishes for entertainment, but the fun can only be as good as the food is. No offense for the founders of American food, but the eastern Asian cuisine is quite tastier, more diverse, and simply better (subject to bias). Thanksgiving is an amazing excuse for great food, although not necessarily turkey. Before I get into what was put on the table for the feast, I just want to say how much turkey is over-rated. The texture is like a dry, sandpaper, rubbing against the mouth. The meat itself takes a lot of time to soak up flavor and eating anywhere other than the skin or the outer edge is extremely flavorless. Unless carved into thin slices, the meat may not receive the full flavor desired. This makes the full-sized turkeys quite a pain to eat. I don’t understand how Americans eat their turkey, maybe they slaughter it in gravy and cranberry sauce. Neither of which are too healthy. So when the church began the dinner, and everyone patiently went down the buffet line, literally all the children skipped past the turkey bin. I really don’t see this addiction with wild birds. The Chinese culture is open to all animals, and as much as people make fun of this fact, the flavors are diverse. It may just be my opinion since everyone else in school thinks otherwise.

        The dinner was great. Not many people touched the turkey, so by the end of the eating session, it was all that really remained, other than some tofu and cold broccoli. On a day like Thanksgiving, everyone expects great food. Expectations were met today, and the service after was a great way to not only digest food, but also give thanks for what we have. I understand some of the audience are not religious, and they know who they are. It does not mean there is nothing to be thankful for, and so we should all be thankful as well. Sure, nearly all the teens were doing something they probably shouldn’t be doing, yet they all probably knew the message of Thanksgiving and heard it from the countless prayers of thanks.

【紅霞譯文】

        賓州神州基督教會每年舉行一次感恩節晚餐，前後持續個把鐘頭，想必各位來賓全都心甘情願犧牲黑色星期五之夜狂購時間聚集於此共度良宵。

        然而這卻讓我糾結不已，本人酷愛美式足球，珍重放假不上學的日子（求之不得），喜歡秋季繽紛世界，熱衷黑色星期五購物血拼—這裡當該說成狂歡，我也鍾情……多種風味美食。

        對於現代中國文化，吃吃喝喝在聚會中占據舉足輕重的地位，民以食為天，沒有吃喝談何快樂，於此我無意詆毀美餐行家角逐實力。東亞飲食不光品味上乘，而且花樣繁多，怎麼夸都不過分（確有偏見），感恩節讓人趁機山海吃喝，雖說未必非吃火雞不可。在即將享用今晚盛宴之前，我想說句掏心窩子的話，人們愛給火雞戴高帽，其實它的肉質乾燥粗糙磨牙，欲求做得有滋有味，不知要花費多少功夫，靠近表皮的地方還算好吃，其它部位則味同嚼蠟；火雞被切成小片容易入味，但囫圇個燒烤就很難保證口感一致，這樣便沒啥嚼頭。我弄不清楚美國人使用什麼絕招來吃火雞，莫非把它扔進滷汁蘸得油膩瓷實再拌足酸果蔓醬開胃爽口才肯下咽，可這兩種吃法均不利於身體健康，正因如此當教會晚宴開始的時候，大家不緊不慢沿着自助餐桌排成長列，小孩子們對火雞不屑一顧，我想象不出這年頭有誰還愛吃這類野鳥。華夏文化與各種動物有着千絲萬縷的聯繫，人們經常拿動物開涮自尋開心，山珍海味確實獨領風騷，也許我孤陋寡聞，對之同學間各有各的說道，智者見智仁者見仁。

        晚餐極其豐盛，倒是沒有太多人專吃火雞，因此最後剩下的東西除了少許豆腐和清涼芥藍以外非火雞莫屬。感恩節上大家期待珍饈美饌，今天聚會辦得不錯，接下來當務之急不僅是如何解決消化問題，而且還要感激製作美味佳餚的勞動者，我知道不少讀者沒有宗教信仰，人各有所取，不管怎樣都應心懷感恩，衷心感謝自己所擁有的一切。沒錯，差不多所有青少年或多或少都在做不該做的事情，但畢竟耳濡目染，對以德報恩的教誨大概還是心知肚明。

相關博文：

2015 Thanksgiving @ CGCC(2015年神州基督教會感恩節)