Thanksgiving

Just like the pumpkin pie, Thanksgiving weekend has come and gone. We had a simple meal of Rosemary Grilled Salmon, Garlic Mashed Potatoes, and Greenbeans with Mushrooms and celebrated the holiday the weekend before. Thanks to the thoughtfulness of my parents, who shipped us a can of pumpkin (organic at that!) and a jar of pumpkin pie spice, we had a tasty pie for dessert. Actually, we had two pies, as the pie pans available at our local housewares shop are significantly smaller than American pie pans. On the actual holiday we enjoyed a quick weeknight meal of Rotini with Pumpkin-Sage Cream Sauce. This year was certainly no match for the large gatherings of friends and family that we have hosted in past years, but it was nice to celebrate nonetheless.
Perhaps the strangest part of being abroad for the holiday was going to work on Thursday morning. I have been overseas for other holidays, but as Thanksgiving is my favorite, it was a little bit sad. As I was walking to work though, my Ipod came through for me and played some upbeat and distinctly American music. Some days I feel like that thing can read my mind...
On Friday morning, as our family and friends were gathering for the holiday I was again walking to work. The weather was pleasant and I was thinking of all the things I am thankful for this year- the health of our family and friends, the opportunity to live abroad, how great it is to live in the internet age when we can video chat with our family and our pets half-way around the world, books, travel, education, the fact that I don't live in poverty like so many people on this planet.
The rest of our weekend was relatively uneventful. We ate dinner out on Friday and tried fugu (poisonous blowfish, ok that was kinda exciting), we spent Saturday doing housechores, grocery shopping, studying, and reading, and on Sunday we spent the afternoon in Kobe doing some holiday shopping. I feel so grateful to be as fortunate as I am, that my weekends consist of questions like where to eat on Friday night, what PBS program to watch on the internet, or how late to stay up reading and not where will I find clean water, where will my next meal come from, or how can I heat my home. I hope that this Thanksgiving season life finds you well, that the pies were delicious, and that you have much to be thankful for.