Our Second Chang-sgiving*

Happy Thanksgiving, loved ones! Funny to think that last year on Thanksgiving, Sam and I were in Bangkok at our now favorite go-to restaurant (Sit and Wonder) having curry and Thailand's beloved Chang beer when we received an official job offer from our current employer.

In case you forgot our beloved Chang
(which means elephant in Thai)

This year was quite different, spending most of the day at work, though admittedly it was pretty wonderful. One of our American parents volunteered to come in and share the meaning of Thanksgiving with our students and cook us a huge turkey with endless mashed potatoes and pumpkin pie. It was so fun to have traditional Thanksgiving food and share the day with our students, most of whom had no idea why this weird food was on their lunch plate and preferred rice and soup anyway.

L to R: Kirstie (from Glen Ellyn!) is here!
With her awesome partner, Stefano,
and our friend + co-worker, Maddy

Not only did we get to eat our favorite foods, we also ended the day with a pool party. Because when you live in Thailand, you can have a Thanksgiving pool party without anyone really giving it a second thought. Won't we be too bloated to put on a swimsuit? No, because 1) you can't eat that much when you're simultaneously worrying about the needs of 10 2-5 year olds and 2) often, you just go swimming in a t-shirt and shorts, so no worries about showing the belly in a bikini!

Kieron's always got a cheeky grin and
Sam is very interested in something.

Adam and Dan - sports, sports, sports. Canada v England.

After a big day at school, we came home to greet our newly arrived AirBnb guests, a couple from France with their 2-year-old son. They were more interested in our pool than coming to an American Thanksgiving celebration while on holiday in Thailand, so we said goodbye and went to meet friends at said buffet. More about the free flowing wine, beer and sweet friends than turkey/mashed potatoes, we had far too much fun for a school night and loved every minute.

Playing with our amazing new gift from Ginger - this camera!

Stuff in a jar.

I hope you all had a wonderful time celebrating - we certainly missed being with our family for the greatest American holiday, but we were lucky enough to speak with lots of you throughout the week. Sorry to everyone else, but the highlight for me was having my eldest nephew, Lincoln, read 2 books to me via Skype. Totally made me teary to see him reading and explaining how he can read, but what a marvelous gift to share that time with him from so far away. Thanks, Nain and Taid (my mom and dad), for facilitating the call!

Lincoln even showed me the pictures! So professional.

*Credit to Jon Rathbone for the naming rights of Changsgiving. Brilliant.