On the brisk evening of Friday, November 25, 2016, the Chancellor’s Secretariat Office held the 8th Annual Thanksgiving Celebration at Peking University Shenzhen Graduate School. What originally started out as a modest get together to share an American tradition with Chinese friends and colleagues has, over the years, turned into an international celebration of togetherness and thanks.
With the day’s preparations beginning as early as 9 AM, staff and volunteers buzzed in and out of B building’s Moot Court setting up tables and decorations in preparation for the evening. As night fell, the doors opened to a crowd of roughly 200 international and Chinese students, faculty, and staff ready for a night of food and KTV.
The night was guided by hosts Thomas Ciarán Zschocke of PHBS and Yan Min from the neighboring Tsinghua. After a brief introduction, they invited the School of Transnational Law’s Assistant Dean Christian Pangilinan onto the stage to kick the night off with the annual Thanksgiving toast. Once again, the dinner’s turkeys were catered by Metro, the side dishes were prepared by Frankie’s American Bar & Grille in Nanshan, and the cobblers from Baeckerei Thomas in Shekou. Attendees enjoyed turkey, mashed potatoes, stuffing, and peach cobbler among other things.
After eating and drinking, hosts Thomas and Yan Min called on a few audience volunteers to assist in the annual raffle, which saw four winners who each received a gift card to Starbucks. Soon after, the lights went dim and Edison Chang, one of eight Campus Community Advisors at PKU Shenzhen, started the evening’s KTV session with his rendition of John Legend’s ‘All of Me’. The stage saw many internationals and Chinese students sign up to sing afterward, including a big group dance to Macarena.
As always, the annual Thanksgiving celebration was a great event that brought Chinese and international populations on our campus together for a good meal and great songs. Special thanks to the Chancellor’s Secretariat Office, CA Program, International Association, and English Association for organizing this event, with further support from the Peking University HSBC Business School, School of Transnational Law, Yinyuan Catering Company, and Happy Mealtime Catering, as well as all the volunteers who made this event possible.
The Nanyan Observer 