Thanksgiving Etc.

THANKSGIVING!!!!

In the morning of our Friday Thanksgiving we had a meeting at VF Corp HK. We were toured around by Tommy Lo who gave us an introduction to the company and then we spoke with a lady, Edith, who dealt with logistics and planning deliveries. Next Rob Sinclair, VP of Asia Sourcing, came and talked to us about his history. He used to be VP of design at Ralph Lauren and worked for a guy that started the Hong Kong district which is now Lan Kwai Fong and turned around Ocean Park to actually make money for the HK government. He ended up in Asia because he was backpacking and worked as a bartender where he met the LKF guy. Now he is a fabulous guy wearing a powder blue corduroy Nautica jacket. He was really intriguing and very helpful and insightful. After talking to him a bit we split up and I went to speak with Mitch Whitaker, General Manager of Action Sports. He was awesome!! Super handsome, casually (surfishly) dressed, very chill. He told me all about his team and their plans for marketing of Vans and Reef in Asia. He seemed like a cool boss and he said they have positions open, but can’t fill them because Chinese people do not really know the brand yet where as in the US people would be lining up to work for Vans. We had a short wrap up with everyone and then they gave us a gift of a VF water bottle, a makeup pouch, and a North Face bookbag. Insane. The meeting went so well and they tailored everything to our foci and were just so interesting! After we left it was time to get busy on dinner.

We went to the Millennium Training Restaurant after a last minute stop at the grocery store and got straight to work. Stanley gave us full chef uniforms with white hats and shirts and checkered pants. It was very legitimate. We literally spent from 2pm to 7pm cooking. We made too much food: sweet potato casserole, mashed potatoes, stuffing, deviled eggs, chicken casserole, macaroni & cheese, hashbrown casserole, green bean casserole, and a turkey! The chef helping us, Jason, was great and cooked the whole turkey for us basically. We had a ton of fun and somehow managed to get everything done just in time. The industrial strength ovens probably had something to do with it. I went down to be the greeter while the others got the food on the cart to bring down. We set up shop in a slightly dark part of a courtyard with one table for the good and everyone just gathered around on the brick ledge. Everyone was so thankful to be invited (which of course they would have been) and they all loved the food! We had lots of leftovers and ended up meeting for lunch the next day to finish them. About 20 people came to the dinner including Maria’s parents. We also went around and said what we were thankful for and of course I almost cried several times. We all had a great time drinking wine, eating food, and sharing our tradition with all the other exchange students.

Trying to figure out the turkey

TOO much food

Everyone after eating

Night in the Halls 

Margaux had some French cheese and sausage sent to her so she invited us to the common room to share in her feast. The food was SO good and we had about 10 baguettes. After our little snack everyone congregated in the common room for the rest of the evening and played beer pong with American rules (instead of Chinese). We all had a good time just hanging out in the halls.

Pancakes

The next day was Jon’s pancake morning!! Jon loves to cook (and is really good) so we helped him make pancakes and blueberry syrup from scratch! Everyone just spent a few hours together on Sunday morning/afternoon and just chatted in the kitchen. We each brought different toppings to add so we ended up having quite the feast.

The chef at work

Mongolian Barbeque

For lunch about 16 of us went to a Mongolian restaurant (like Crazy Fire). For those that don’t know, Mongolian barbecue has a buffet of raw meats, vegetables, and spices that you walk through and pick out your favorites. You put everything you want in one bowl and had it over to the cook at the end. It is an interesting philosophy because if you don’t like your food, you only have yourself to blame. They cook the food for you and bring it out when it is ready. Here you could even make your own pizza! It is a fun place to go with a group though because everyone can get what they like and it is quick! Another interesting restaurant option in Hong Kong! 

lunch time