Thanksgiving Dinner

Despite having had a sick tummy since Thursday (17 Nov), I was determined to attend the Thanksgiving dinner hosted by the American Society of Johannesburg on Saturday evening. The dinner was preceded by the AGM (annual general meeting) of the society, which I attended because I wanted to get an idea of what they're about, what their activities are, etc. Still not sure whether or not I will join.

The meeting and dinner were held at Sides Restaurant in Dunkeld (http://www.tenbompas.com/Sides.htm), a somewhat posh neighborhood (located between Rosebank and Hyde Park, if any of you happen to be familiar with Jo'burg). We had the whole restaurant for the evening, and 44 folks, including kids of various ages, were expected. There were 2 long tables of 12-14 for grownups, one long table for younger kids, and one long table for older kids. Seems that last year they had kids mixed in with their parents, but that didn't allow the parents much time for socializing. One of the couples brought their housekeeper, Rosie, to watch after the little kids, and they were (thankfully) pretty well behaved.

The dinner started with some speechifying by the current president of the society, followed by the social chair who gave a talk to the little kids about the beginning and meaning of Thanksgiving. Then some of the kids made little presentations. We heard some facts about turkeys, a couple of poems, and so forth. One of the older kids said a prayer, and then we were served by the restaurant staff.

The menu:

• corn bread
• starter of either roast corn and crab soup with mild chili or grilled pear, roasted walnut rocket (arugula) salad with blue cheese dressing
• herb seasoned roast turkey with stuffing and creamed potatoes
• cranberry sauce
• vegetables (steamed broccoli, roasted butternut squash, and roasted something I never identified)
• dessert of either bourbon brownie or apple and cinnamon creme brulee

It was all yummy. Given my sore tummy, I didn't eat as much as I might normally have, but I did it justice.

During dinner, my closest companions were: Mark, an Irishman who spent some time in NYC and whose wife's father is American, so they want to introduce their kids to T'giving tradition; Linda, who was mostly raised in D.C. but has an English father and spent a lot of time in England; and Henning (from Germany) and his wife, whose name I cannot remember (from Zambia). I'm not really sure why they were there.

I'm not looking to meet lots of Americans while I'm here, but one reason I wanted to attend this event was not only to celebrate Thanksgiving with some Americans, but to hear some American accents. In this respect, I was disappointed. Seems that many of the members are women who married South African men, and they've been here for so long that they no longer sound like Americans! Still, it was a nice evening, and I'm glad I went.