A French Thanksgiving

As you all may have realized, I spent my first Thanksgiving away from home this year. It was sad and weird to not be with my family, but I was so thankful to be able to video chat with all four of them the day before. I know this may come as a shock, but Thanksgiving is NOT an international holiday. Why the rest of the world wouldn't want to celebrate Native Americans and the Pilgrims sharing a meal in America beats me, but it's the way it is. ;) That being said, I was so happy that my French host family wanted to partake in some of my Thanksgiving traditions. I ended up celebrating Thanksgiving three times this year!

On Thanksgiving day, I made my first Thanksgiving meal all by myself! I made my Mom's pumpkin dip, mashed potatoes and gravy, green beans, and chicken... Turkey was not an option on Thursday, but don't worry; I ended up eating it for the next three days. Simple as the meal was, it was yummy and made me feel more at home! It was fun to get the kids to go around and say what they were thankful for. Very much like any American kid at his age, my host brother said he was thankful for the view of the television from his seat at the table. Valid response.

The day after Thanksgiving, my host mother cooked a turkey! So good! And we ended up having leftovers until Monday-leftovers being one of my favorite traditions of Thanksgiving :)

Saturday night was awesome! My host family invited me to go with them to a Thanksgiving dinner at a French friend's apartment who had lived in America for 15 years. I shared the delicious meal with about 10 French adults and one American woman. It was a little difficult to keep up with the advanced conversation, but it was a wonderful experience of mixed French and American eating styles. Plus, it is the only Thanksgiving dinner I will have with a view of the Eiffel Tower out the window.

Sunday was when I felt most at home. I got to celebrate Thanksgiving American-style with my American, English, Australian, Brazilian, and French friends from Hillsong Church. We all chipped in to make the meal exactly as it would have been at home. I even got two slices of delicious pumpkin pie! There were four Americans in attendance, and we each got to share our traditions with the group. I even shared the history of Thanksgiving so that everyone would understand the basics. To top off the night, after dinner we turned on the television to some American football. Y'all. I almost cried. I don't even follow the NFL teams that were playing, but just to see the tackling and hear the announcers, I was overwhelmed with the feeling of America. I miss football season!!

Yes, it was painful to be away from my family for the first time, but I ended up having an unforgettable Thanksgiving weekend in France.