Eric's Beijing Diary

I told my students today that God had mercy on the Pilgrims because they wanted to honor God. They came to America knowing nothing about it, got blown way off course, landed on a cold, barren coast, and just happened to meet the one American Indian who had studied abroad. What are the odds?

Jean is kinda in between things right now, so she's staying at the youth hostel in Wudaokou. Tonight I invited her to join me at Tim's Texas BBQ in Jianguomen for Thanksgiving Dinner. Tim's Texas BBQ used to be the John Bull Pub. I had Thanksgiving there two years ago. The whole placed has been changed over now. No more Shepherd's Pie.

The new menu is all barbecue stuff. I'm a bit skeptical, because I've been to a Texas barbecue. I mean a real Texas barbecue, down in Corpus Christi, back when I was trucking. I can't imagine something like that being replicated here, but I should come back sometime and give it a try, I guess. But tonight was for turkey. Jean had never had a "fire chicken" dinner. Eating a Thanksgiving "set meal" is really not the same as a home cooked Thanksgiving dinner, but it was actually pretty good. But these places would go broke if they depended on people like me. They had my custom tonight because it's Thanksgiving, but generally I would not come this far to pay this much. My problem, of course, is that I like Chinese food too much, and there are lots and lots of Chinese restaurants in my part of town. Plenty of Japanese restaurants, too. In fact, if you want to have Japanese food, the best place to live is Beijing. When I go to Tokyo, I eat at McDonald's, because I can't afford the stuff I like. But here in Beijing, Japanese food is very affordable. The little place under the coffee bar in Wudaokou is run by a Japanese guy, and they make the best hamburger curry rice. But enough about food. Happy Thanksgiving.