Turkey Day

Thanksgiving is a day to spend with your family and friends. It can be a very eventful day, visits to see parents, grandparents, sisters, everyone. Back home we usually go to at least three Thanksgiving meals from Thursday to Sunday. Dustin and I have celebrated the day after due to him working EVERY Thanksgiving since we have been together.


This year was different. Thankfully Dustin was allowed to get off work early and spend the holiday with me and our good friends here. We did not host or go to anyones house. Thanksgiving is hardly celebrated here and you really have to hunt down the expat websites to find it or know someone. They do have turkeys here for the holidays, and they want 8.50 a POUND for them, so no, no cooking turkey for us this year. We went to a resturant that was a microbrewry. There was an American club there and had information on Thanksgiving and the story of why we celebrate it. I found it interesting, there were a lot of people there to celebrate, and not all were Americans. It was good to see that everyone was taking an interest and enjoying the food.

Now we all know what to expect when we think about a Thanksgiving meal. Turkey, gravey, mashed potatoes, green bean cassorole, stuffing, the works. I will say that this place had an alright spread considering. They offered soup, salad, rice, stuffing, veggies turkey, ham and pies. Of course, I skipped over the salad, and went stright for the carrotts, mashed potatoes and green beans. I was disappointed that there was not a green bean cassarole, it is my favorite part of Thanksgiving meal! The stuffing was alright, it was not stove top but home made, with big chunks of bread. It was good, but again, not what I was used to. Everything else was amazing. I did have pumpkin cheese cake and it just did not taste good, it looked like they cut a cheese cake and pumpkin pie in half and put them together. Oh well.

I will say over all it was a great time. We had good food, good beer and great company. There was one American couple that we have grown close with, Clint and Meghan, that invited us. Others were from the UK and Aulstralia. Some were there experiancing Thanksgiving meal for the first time and from the sights, they fully enjoyed it. Conversations were wonderful, talking about holidays, travel and who was doing what for the weekend. I really felt blessed last night to know that I have such a wonderful fiance and that we have met such good people here already.

I will say that this was the first Thanksgiving that I didn't spend with family. My whole life I have always seen my parents, all three (mom, dad, stepmom) and I felt a little empty yesterday. I did get to see my dad and mom on skype which was nice but it's not the same. I knew it was going to be hard to deal with, not spending time with family. I feel that it would have been a lot harder if we did not go out with our friends and if Dustin had to stay at work the entire time.

I hope everyone at home had a wonderful day, full bellies and great conversation. Know that we missed each of you and are so thankful to have you all in our lives. I expect to have a great Turkey day next year back at home with our friends, neighbors and family! Happy Thanksgiving everyone, we love you!