Thanksgiving Meal

For our first Thanksgiving overseas, we celebrated with 27 other American folks. Because of the numbers, we split into two groups for the main meal and then all gathered for dessert. Though we're very much aware of our foreign status here, it felt a lot like home at the dinner table. Some items on our table were purchased in our country: turkey, bread dressing, cornbread dressing (though the cornmeal was from America), corn, strawberry pretzel salad, mashed potatoes, and homemade rolls (there are no other kind in this country). Other special items were brought to us by a friend from America who put them in her suitcase and delivered them to our home. These items included ham, cranberry sauce, ingredients for green bean casserole, and ingredients for sweet potato casserole. The meal was fantastic, and we did the all-American over-eating. After the meal was complete, the boys went outside to play football, the younger girls played dress up, and the older girls sang songs. The adults sat around on the couches and did impersonations, talked about how we ate too much, and wondered what was for dessert.

For our progressive Thanksgiving dinner, we went to another house and became a group of 33. We had American coffee, pecan pie (pecans brought in from US), pumpkin pie (not from a can), Derby pie (the KY addition...without the bourbon), chocolate chip cookies, pumpkin candy corn (brought in from the US), apple cake, and cider on the stovetop. It was good to celebrate such food and special time with our overseas family.