Thursday, November 25, 2010

Lots to be Thankful for

Well I did it. I orchestrated my very first Thanksgiving. Of course I could not do it alone. But I will get to my fabulous peeps here in Bath.
It started when at the beginning of the semester my course-mates and I were talking about holidays and I mentioned Thanksgiving. Now, I am the only American in my group. But everyone got quite excited and we decided to a Thanksgiving here (who doesn't like to eat themselves sick? Not realizing then of all the work that goes into it, and it being at the end up the semester when it is crunch time with assignments.
We met a little while later to decide who was coming and what we actually need. I went into "Sally/Dot" mode and made a list of everything we would need and assigned everyone something to do. Okay, still thinking we could do this...
Come to a few days before Turkey day. Still have not figured out how or where to get the turkeys and so many people not knowing what I assigned them. So I made the decision that maybe a few of us could go to the store together and then everyone pay later. Since I did not want to heft 2 frozen birds back to my place walking, as hilarious as that would have been for others, I asked those with a car to drive. So the day before our eating extravaganza me and the boys went to the store in a car and it was go time. We got everything we thought we needed and got it back to m y place. I looked at the turkeys and it said it needed 45-48 hours to defrost.......ummmm. I had 24. No worries, I did some magic and got them defrosted in time.
The next morning we had class and I was in no mood to be there. I was so stressed because one our people had bailed...... the one who was supposed to bring all the cookware. And let me tell you, you do not realize how essential cookware is until you are preparing for 10....
Well after class I booked it home (after being an ugly American to the International people for being fools about my visa) and showered and then had to meet Tom at the store to get the last bits.
We got back to my place at 4 ish to bake the pumpkin pie... Joe got there a bit later after being lost and the three of us got things ready and stuck the turkeys (after I thoroughly molested them) in the oven.... Whew!
We hung around and talked while everyone showed up as they could. Finally at 830 ish the turkeys were ready and we sat down to eat. I sort of explained the story of why we celebrate Thanksgiving and we ate.
So I had my first International Thanksgiving, here is all represented:
Marina- Argentina
Joe- Spain
Sisi- China
Magda- Greece
Hasan- Cyprus
Pardy- U.K.
Lynden - U.K.
Tom- U.K.
Beenisha - Bangladesh
and Jakob - Germany (he is my kitchen mate and got invited when we realized how much food we had).
It was amazing. We all had a fantastic time and learned about each other's languages and cultures. It was quite a memory and I am so thankful I got to do it and share it with all my new friends I have made while here.

2 comments:

  1. That sounded like the best time ever. Isn't that what life is about? Meeting new friends learning about their lives and sharing great stories. I am so happy you are getting to do this. I am VERY proud of your cooking and entertaining skills. Talents always surface when needed! Love you much, Mom

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  2. AWESOMENESS!!! That is one of the proudest feelings... to make your FIRST Thanksgiving meal! YOU DID IT!

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