Thanksgiving…in France

I am thankful for so many things this year. I am thankful for my supportive family and friends (who were as excited as I was that I was going to France for an academic year to teach English). I am thankful that I have a job during a time when the unemployment rate is almost 10 percent in the United States and even higher for people my age. I am thankful for the friends that I have made in France, the ones that helped make this year’s Thanksgiving just as special as the other ones that I have celebrated. But, I am especially thankful to know there are so many people who love and care about me back in the United States. Though I am thousands of miles away from home I have received letters, packages, facebook posts, blog comments, and emails filled with love and support….It is amazing to know that so many people are following me on my journey as an English assistant in Tours, France.

Well, as you all can most likely guess, this year’s Thanksgiving was not “normal”. Once you set foot outside of North America, the idea of Thanksgiving is so foreign that you find yourself trying to “do your best” to make just another Thursday something extra special.

Thursday, November 25, 2010—I did not have the day off, I did not have my family around me, and I did not have a house filled with the smells of turkey, cranberry sauce, sweet potatoes, and other Thanksgiving goodies cooking in the oven. It was like any other Thursday in France…I went to work, I came home and ate lunch, and I returned to work… In my classes I talked about Thanksgiving and in some I had the opportunity to make turkeys (out of the students’ hands). Three of my four classes went really well, though my fourth one was terrible! I had to end the class early because the students were so bad (talking, not sitting still, laughing, dancing, moving their chairs and desks….)…and they are 9-10 years old, so not even the little ones! I think they were so distracted by the fact that today was the first snow in Tours…

When classes were over, I went to the grocery store and bought a bottle of the 2010 Beaujolais Nouveau (it’s tradition back home to have a glass on Thanksgiving) and some bread. I then came home and started preparing my contribution to the Thanksgiving meal that was going to be later on in the day (around 7:30PM). I was in charge of the mashed potatoes…not too difficult and quite different than preparing a bunch of dishes over the course of a whole morning/afternoon! I peeled a 2.5-kilogram bag of potatoes and after boiling them added 8 cloves of garlic (YUM), milk, sour cream, butter, chives, salt, and pepper. They were delicious! I then got ready to head to Ryan’s where we all would be eating and celebrating Thanksgiving.

Jenna, Molly, and I arrived at Ryan’s a little after 7:30PM; the house was filled with smells of Thanksgiving! It was so exciting! And though Ryan was not able to find a whole turkey, we managed to have two turkey-loin-like-things (it was white meat turkey and tied up in the shape of a short, thick pork loin). They were absolutely delicious and tender! And, in addition to the turkey (cooked with bay leaves, potatoes, chestnuts, and mushrooms) we had: sweet potatoes, mashed potatoes, spinach casserole, salad, macaroni-and-cheese, corn, stuffing, cranberry sauce, and bread! It was perfect! Our potluck-style Thanksgiving worked out really well. There were 12 people total…a mix of Thanksgiving-virgins (French and Brits) and hardcore Thanksgiving-going-Americans.

All in all it was a great way to celebrate Thanksgiving…though I wish I could have been in the States with my family! Needless to say, it was not “just another day” in France.

-Alex