Today has probably been the most unique Thanksgiving of my life.
First, I woke up feeling thankful...for sunny BLUE SKIES! This is so rare in Glasgow and I am convinced it happened just for the Americans who were all missing home. Monsoon style rains have been pouring all week, so today was some sweet relief. I just wanted to run through the streets yelling, "Happy Thanksgiving!" It's funny to feel like you're feeling all this internal holiday spirit and no one around you knows it's a holiday. It made me feel so much kinship with Americans around the world celebrating today in their own way, in whatever culture they find themselves.
And yes, the travesty happened: I had class today. I couldn't hold it in, and so at the end of the class as all of us began packing up, I said "Happy Thanksgiving everyone!" They all stared at me and someone said, "What's that?" I explained that it was a really huge holiday where I came from, one for which I would normally get days off from school. "What are you Americans giving thanks for?" asked my professor, chuckling a bit (I think he found the idea of the holiday a bit amusing). I gave a quick explanation of the first Thanksgiving with the pilgrims and the native americans, and he said, "So essentially you're just giving thanks for America." He and my fellow students found the whole thing quite funny. They just don't know what they're missing.
The best was earlier this week, when a Scottish girl asked me, "So, Thanksgiving....that's like some sort of American Independence day, right?"
Anyway, I mostly just really, really missed my family today. I've never been apart from them on Thanksgiving. I miss my dad's deep fried turkey and my mom's savory stuffing and my grandma's pecan pie. I miss the whole crowd gathering around the table and eating until we're sick. This morning I put some cinnamon and nutmeg on my oatmeal and tried to pretend it was pumpkin pie, but somehow it just wasn't the same!
One of my roommates cooked us a little dinner tonight, and I got to try some new dishes I wouldn't normally think of as traditional, like caramelised brussel sprouts and sweet potato casserole with banana in it. My Chinese roommates got to try their first turkey, and I think they really liked it. But the big meal comes tomorrow....me and two fellow Americans are cooking an ENORMOUS Thanksgiving dinner tomorrow night for people in our church and our international student friends. We are excited to share this American tradition, but also very anxious since none of us have cooked any of this food before and now we are representing our nation with our culinary skills....oh boy. Hey, at least most of them have never celebrated Thanksgiving, so they'll have no idea what it's supposed to taste like!
Off to bed....up at 7:30 AM tomorrow to start 38 pounds of turkey thawing...
First, I woke up feeling thankful...for sunny BLUE SKIES! This is so rare in Glasgow and I am convinced it happened just for the Americans who were all missing home. Monsoon style rains have been pouring all week, so today was some sweet relief. I just wanted to run through the streets yelling, "Happy Thanksgiving!" It's funny to feel like you're feeling all this internal holiday spirit and no one around you knows it's a holiday. It made me feel so much kinship with Americans around the world celebrating today in their own way, in whatever culture they find themselves.
And yes, the travesty happened: I had class today. I couldn't hold it in, and so at the end of the class as all of us began packing up, I said "Happy Thanksgiving everyone!" They all stared at me and someone said, "What's that?" I explained that it was a really huge holiday where I came from, one for which I would normally get days off from school. "What are you Americans giving thanks for?" asked my professor, chuckling a bit (I think he found the idea of the holiday a bit amusing). I gave a quick explanation of the first Thanksgiving with the pilgrims and the native americans, and he said, "So essentially you're just giving thanks for America." He and my fellow students found the whole thing quite funny. They just don't know what they're missing.
The best was earlier this week, when a Scottish girl asked me, "So, Thanksgiving....that's like some sort of American Independence day, right?"
Anyway, I mostly just really, really missed my family today. I've never been apart from them on Thanksgiving. I miss my dad's deep fried turkey and my mom's savory stuffing and my grandma's pecan pie. I miss the whole crowd gathering around the table and eating until we're sick. This morning I put some cinnamon and nutmeg on my oatmeal and tried to pretend it was pumpkin pie, but somehow it just wasn't the same!
One of my roommates cooked us a little dinner tonight, and I got to try some new dishes I wouldn't normally think of as traditional, like caramelised brussel sprouts and sweet potato casserole with banana in it. My Chinese roommates got to try their first turkey, and I think they really liked it. But the big meal comes tomorrow....me and two fellow Americans are cooking an ENORMOUS Thanksgiving dinner tomorrow night for people in our church and our international student friends. We are excited to share this American tradition, but also very anxious since none of us have cooked any of this food before and now we are representing our nation with our culinary skills....oh boy. Hey, at least most of them have never celebrated Thanksgiving, so they'll have no idea what it's supposed to taste like!
Off to bed....up at 7:30 AM tomorrow to start 38 pounds of turkey thawing...
