A Thanksgiving Away

I think I had a lot more trouble with Thanksgiving than a lot of my American colleagues at the Courtauld. It may be because, for a lot of people, Thanksgiving just isn't that big of a deal. Some people just sit down to a meal with their immediate family and that's it.

For me, Thanksgiving is an enormous deal. It is the biggest family occasion on our calendar, one of the few times a year when we are all together. It's the Little Rock holiday, where everyone comes to us. We give thanks for days. Fires out on the porch. Long talks. Shopping and football and food and, of course, the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade.

Not this year.

Despite being acutely aware of how much I have to be grateful for (I have so much to be grateful for!!) I was seriously bummed. I had trouble, especially Wednesday night, knowing that my family was arriving and I was stuck on the other side of the Atlantic. What was I thinking? How could I miss my birthday and Thanksgiving in Europe? Who thought this was a good idea? Being able to skype in at home was obviously incredible helpful.

Luckily, Thanksgiving comes in many different shapes and sizes! Even though I missed out on our Thanksgiving traditions, there were people here in England who cared, who wanted to make it special--and it was! I also had to turn in my first assessed essay of my MA, my first grade period. It was such a relief to get it turned in. Yet another thing to be thankful for.

Thanksgiving came in two parts this year. the first was a fun lunch with the Kristins (I have two friends names Kristin, both from LA) at Big Easy BBQ and Crabshack in Covent Garden. Their smoked turkey was delicious and their dressing was not dressing (made it with sweet potatoes?). the clotted creme on the pumkin pie was a definite plus.

My second Thanksgiving was with Sally's family and a group of friends where there was also plenty of food and laughter to go around. Andy, Sally's husband, made his famous creamed corn and we lingered at the table to hours talking about graduate school and evil neighbors and all kinds of other things. Sally's friends had an enormous standard poodle named Oscar. There were kids everywhere. It felt very homey. I was stupid and took no pictures, but it was wonderful!

 Thanksgiving, in sum, is about realizing how many different things in your life are worth celebrating. Family, of course. Food, of course. But also new friends and faraway travels and high adventure. It's worth it. This is worth being away, missing out on some things in exchange for an unparalleled experience to learn and grow.