Plimoth Plantation, Plymouth Rock and the Mayflower

Since we didn't get to see the Plimoth Plantation on Thansgiving, we went back on the Saturday. I realized I was much more interested in the native people than the English settlers. Basically, the native people act like themselves and show the museum visitors how they make food, clothing, etc, and talk abou their culture in the past and in the present. It was fascinating; I loved it. A few feet away there is a recreation of the English settlement that the colonists lived in. Everybody there is in period clothing and they portray real historical people. I found that part of the museum to be cool but a little weird. It was really crowded so mainly I just listened to other people talk to the characters.

Then we went over to see Plymouth Rock and the Mayflower. It was freezing, as you can tell by my huge puffy coat!



I am glad Matt and I have spent time in New England...there is a lot of interesting stuff here...but it is cold and I don't feel like an New Englander. I guess I already mentally have one foot out the door...I am ready for the next thing! And it is coming up soon, altho0ugh we don't know what it is....we have to be moved out of our apartment on January 15th because new renters are coming in.

And no, we have no idea where we will be going.

Thanksgiving

Matt and I decided to eat Thanksgiving dinner at the Plimoth Plantation this year. It was sort of interesting, but we both agreed that in the end it is way more fun to spend Thanksgiving with friends and family. We haven't been home for Thanksgiving for SO many years...hopefully some day we will make it back.

The day got to sort of an awkward start because we did't leave the house early enough and a 40 minute drive turned into a 2.5 hour drive...and Matt was NOT happy. We didn't get to see any of the Plimoth Plantation and we rshed into the dinner late.

The people at our table were really nice. As usual, we were with elderly people. Haha, seems like we do everything that the seniors do...which makes me wonder what we will do when we are old...haha!

The food was ok, but nothing beats homecooking.

After the dinner, we went over to our friends' house for games and more pumpkin pie. THat was definitely the highlight of the day!

Update

So, I think probably most people that know Matt and I know that we do things late. Everything...we eat late, come to parties late, respond to emails and phone calls late, celebrate holidays late....so, in out usual style, we carved our Halloween pumpkins late (well into November!). Matt said that this was his greatest pumpkin ever, so I felt like I should post a picture to save it for posterity. He also made a "Blair Witch" type tree hanging out of Halloween costume hat. I thought it was pretty funny, but apparently someone didn't, because both our pumpkin an the tree hanging were gone the next morning. Some people are no fun!!

Ya, I realize the lateness thing is pretty rude....I try to not be late in things, but sometimes I get overwhelmed with life and distracted and things just get pushed back. This includes thank you notes and wedding gifts. I am sure a lot of people are irritated by this (I know a few who come right out and say it). Sorry to everyone! Hopefully I will be more punctual after I am out of school.

On to the "update" part of this blog post: So, Matt and I have been going through a very long decision process regarding where we will be moving in January. The choices are: Hong Kong, San Diego, and San Francisco. Our first choice in Hong Kong. I have to say, I am so impressed with Matt...he knew he wanted to move back there, and he worked really hard to position himself at work so that we could be transferred over there. I am amazed that he had that long term goal, back in January, and he succeeded. He would be the first one from his company to be living over there...so it was big success on his part.

So, a few weeks ago we found out that my MS medicine isn't available over there. Matt called the drug company rep, and it definitely isn't available. We are going to try a few things to get it over there for me, but the outlook isn't that great. You never know, though. ANyway, needless to say I feel terrible. Even though I logically know that it isn't my "fault", I feel horrible...no one wants to be a burden or to limit their husband or anyoneelse in their family. Also, I know that it isn't too much of a hardship to be in the US at least once every month...I mean, some people spend their whole lives here without leaving! It's not like I am asking him to change my diapers or something. But still, I am feeling really bad about this. Something could still work out though, it is not a closed book yet.

Our alternative is to move back to California...which isn't that bad of an option...it's just that we both got really excited to move back to Hong Kong. Actually, Matt was excited, and I was schizo: One day I would want to go there, and the next day I would be adamantly opposed to anywhere but San Diego. I have to say, I am really proud and happy about Matt...it makes me feel really safe knowing that his opinion stays constant when mine is all over the place. I never know what I really feel, but if Matt has an opinion about something important then I feel like I can trust it. The funny thing is, on most things he is ambivalent...he has no opinion because he doesn't care either way.

Anyway, Matt and I are just hoping at this point that we will come to a conclusion soon. It sucks to be in limbo. The thing that would be unfortunate is that if we move to California, Matt would have to quit his job...and this is not a great time to job searching!

Cooking Club

The theme for the November meeting of my cooking club was "beautiful presentation". And, it just so happened to my my turn to host. Talk about pressure! Of all of us, I am the least well-supplied for hosting a dinner party, despite the fact that I just got married. Matt and I haven't really ever settled in to our place or accumulated muc stuff because we have always had it in our mind that we are moving soon. Hopefully, our next place will be more permanent. Anyway, our cooking club dinner may have been more beautifully presented if it had been at someone else's house, but hey, I tried! Also, I just noticed that my photo of my cooking club looks just like Maria's photos of her "girl's nights"....a bunch of ladies sitting around a table smiling and waiting to eat. Haha!

I made three things: Soup in pumpkin, gado gado, and cheesy spoon bread. I had a really hard time finding things to make that would be "beautiful". In the end, I don't even know if they were beautiful, but luckily they all tasted ok. I am an experimental cook and I usually don't make the same thing twice (unless I love it and Matt seemed willing to eat it again)....so often what I make will not be very good and it definitely won't be beautiful. Anyway, I had a brainstorm session with my mom while I was In San Diego and she suggested that I served soup in a pumpkin. It was a great idea, especially since Matt and I never got around to carving our pumpkins for Halloween. I got the recipe from my favorite cookbook by Mollie Katzen and I think it was pretty good.





I also made Gado Gado. It was also from the Mollie Katzen cookbook....can you tell I am obsessed? I loved this recipe, it was so easy and pretty, and it tasted good and was healthy. Katzen's recipe for peanut sauce is great!



As an afterthought, I also made cheesy spoon bread. It actually looked pretty cool when I took it out of the oven, but it deflated by the time I took the picture. It didn't taste that great to me...it needed more salt or something. If people like really bland things, this might be good. It was very easy...just cornmeal, eggs, cheddar cheese, dried milk and a few other basic things. I bought dried milk for another recipe, and didn't know how to use the rest of the box so I googled dried milk recipes and this came up. I think little kids might like it? Not sure.



Everyone else made delicious, beautiful items also but I didn't get pictures of everything. For me, it was bittersweet because I only have 2 more cooking club dinners left before I move! These were the first people I met when I moved to Boston, before I started school or work or anything, and we have been having the monthly dinners for the whole 2.5 years....I will be sad to leave them! And sadly, if Matt and I move to Hong Kong I will probably never cook at all. Not enough kitchen space and too much socializing and having dinner out...it is fun but the cooking goes by the wayside. Oh well. Hong Kong definitely has other benefits that make up for the lack of cooking.

An Old Friend

Walking Through Harvard Square


A group of Chinese tourists taking photos of Harvard


Matt and Meagan on the Charles River (Notice Matt's pose. He cannot take a normal photo!)

Last weekend we had a visitor: an old friend from Hong Kong who now lives with his wife in England. It was so great to have him with us, although of course, the topic of conversation was primarily Hong Kong! Matt and I are contemplating our next move, and Hong Kong is at the top of our list. So, it was good to sort of hash out and remember all the details with our old friend. Of course, we all commented on how boring our lives are now that we have moved away from Hong Kong! Our friend and his wife are having a baby in December...I am so excited for them! Seeing him made me miss her, because she was my first friend when I moved to Hong Kong.