Grateful Heart

At the start of November, many of my Facebook friends followed this trend of posting something they were thankful for each day. Being the nonconformist hipster that I am, not only did I opt out of this movement, but with each post I read came a huge eye roll.

Before you decide I'm a jerk, just try to remember where I'm coming from. Everyone's all: "I'm so thankful for my blah blah blah." And I'm thinking, it must be nice. It must be nice to be near family, it must be nice to have comfort food within arms reach, it must be nice to be able to communicate with the general public in English.  Not only is my heart two sizes too small at this point, I'm also the nastiest shade of envious green. It must be nice to have a stinking oven for crying out loud!

For a few weeks, I've been mulling in this ball of self pity mixed with jealous rage. The Thanksgiving posts were getting to be too much, and next it was going to be Christmas. oh joy.

But that's the end of the negativity. You know what? I have a job. I have an amazing husband. My whole family is actually coming to visit me. I'm not isolated from the outside world. The internet in China isn't great, but God bless VPNs (virtual private networks)!! Oh you know what else China HAS that America DOESN'T? Thanksgiving feasts delivered to your door.  Josh and I invited our dear friends Bri and Matt over for a delicious chicken dinner (turkey was available but our fridge is small).

No, it didn't exactly turn out like a Norman Rockwell painting, but here's what happened....

We get a call from Fields (the fancy western foods place) right after work Thursday at 4:15, confirming that we'd be home for the meal delivery at 4:30. I hadn't heard from Bri yet to confirm when or if they were coming over that night. Since I love procrastinating, the house wasn't cleaned or ready for guests either. Josh and I rushed home and started tidying things up the best we could. 4:30 comes and goes. Around 5 we get a text from Bri asking for our address. I didn't know she had emailed me to confirm dinner plans because Gmail and Google were down that day (Thanks, China!) So, with no worries, Bri and Matt made it around 5:30 and were soaked because of the Thanksgiving monsoon. And still, no dinner. Josh gave Fields a call again, the lady was going to call us back after talking to the driver. The new ETA was 7:00.  Maybe we should just order pizza?

We busted out the wine, Bananagrams, and lots of conversation.

FINALLY! 8 PM! THANKSGIVING DINNER HAS ARRIVED!!!

Ok, so this meal was delicious. After a diet of mostly greasy Chinese food (not in a good way) for the last few months, I will NEVER take for granted a good American style meal.

Yeah, big whoop. I took a picture of my plate. But this is my plate in China! This is huge deal.

Having this feast did not make my heart grow three times its size. The two-and-a-half-hours-of-good-conversation-with-people-who-are-in-the-same-boat-as-us did. This Thanksgiving, I got a new perspective. I'm leading a truly amazing life right now. I have an amazing man by my side, and the sky's the limit for us.
You know what I'm doing this winter?  I'm going to Thailand... and Laos... and Indonesia... and India. Okay, now I'm just bragging.

We sacrifice a lot choosing to work and live on the other side of the world. But, we sacrifice a lot staying put in the Midwest too. It's all a matter of your perspective.

Pep talk to myself: Be thankful for what YOU have, because it's spectacular.