Thanksgiving in France

I'd like to clear some things up. It may seem crazy to many Americans reading this, but Thanksgiving doesn't exist in France! Think about the history.. The French don't really have a reason to celebrate the Mayflower coming to America and the pilgrims feasting with the Indians. And perhaps you're thinking, well of course I knew that! Who wouldn't? Well, it's hard to imagine a world without a day devoted to overstuffing yourself with delicious foods and drifting off to sleep to the sound of family bickering (love you guys!) - it's safer just to imagine that I'm over here in France doing the exact same thing as everyone back home, just in a different language and with better cheese.

In lieu of Thanksgiving dinner with my family, I had a Thanksgiving lunch with my school. All 60 of us, after waiting an extra hour and a half for lunch, walked over to one of the local schools where we have lunch. Our teachers, our advisors, our classmates - all of us. And in the school's cafeteria, they had several tables pushed together, set for a Thanksgiving feast, American flags and all.

We had a pumpkin-squash soup, then turkey with gravy and mashed potatoes, and finished our "dinner" with an apple crisp. We even had the honor of having our English teacher and our Culture et Société Française (CESF) teacher perform a little skit for us!

After school, I got home (with a huge package in tow - thank you Grandma and Papa!) and started to make an apple pie. For me, pies are usually made by Roger's Orchard and brought to my house via my grandparents. But Roger's Orchard isn't here for me to buy a pie from - heck, there isn't a single place where I could find a pie, because they don't really exist here! Sure, there are tarts and all of their fruity desserts, but an apple or pumpkin pie? Not here. So I made the entire pie, the crust and the apples with their spices and I put it all together and put it in the oven, and even though the crust fell from the side of the pan, it came out pretty good! And my family doesn't even know that it's not supposed to do that! They loved the pie. Partial Thanksgiving in France = success.

Even though it's not Thanksgiving over here, I feel like I should follow in the blogging community's footsteps and let you know a few of the things I'm thankful for, since I'm thankful for them regardless of what day it is (but mashed potatoes and assorted pies always make it even easier to be thankful). I'm thankful for my family, in the United States and here in France. I'm thankful for the country that I am from, and the country that I am in, for all of my amazing friends (co-dependency at it's best), my good health (just don't be around when I come back from a run or you may question that statement),  and the incredible opportunity I have to be here in France. I am thankful for all of the things that I don't realize I should be thankful for.

Happy Thanksgiving, from my family to yours!