Thanksgiving

I spent Thanksgiving away from home/family for the first time this year. It was pretty difficult being alone and in a country that doesn't celebrate the holiday, but I did (and still do) have plenty to be thankful for. 

Like the fact that I spent some time on Thanksgiving finally giving a presentation that I prepared instead of conducting more mock oral exams. (Basically almost the entirety of my existence as an English assistant here has consisted of giving these mock exams, which is a terrible idea for a number of reasons I won't go into here.) I taught some students about Thanksgiving and had them play a game afterward to see how much they had actually understood, and it went pretty well. It was easily the most gratifying hour I've spent at the lycee. After classes, I headed over to the bibliotheque americaine's Thanksgiving celebration, which can be summed up as "tea" and "not very reminiscent of Thanksgiving." Not that it wasn't nice, but it made me more homesick if anything and reminded me once more of just how far away from home I am. So I came back and made myself a makeshift Thanksgiving dinner to tide me over until the real one at Pont-a-Mousson on the following Saturday. It was so good to be with other Americans and eat and drink excessive amounts and have pumpkin pie. Mm pumpkin pie. It's strange how being in France makes me miss things that I don't even really eat when I'm in the US.

My somewhat sad makeshift Thanksgiving dinner

Pont-a-Mousson

More Pont-a-Mousson. The river is so much prettier there than it is in Nancy.

Decorations!

Hand turkey!

Appetizers

The desserts & maybe 1/3 of the drinks...

Food! :D You see here turkey, stuffing, mashed potatoes, mac and cheese, and green bean casserole.

Sweet potatoes, wild rice casserole, gravy

We went for a walk after dinner and learned how pretty Mont-a-Mousson is at night.

Aaaand then went back for dessert! The homemade pumpkin pie was super good.

And since everyone does it on Thanksgiving, here's an incomplete list of the things I'm thankful for:

- Family and friends. I'm sure I'd survive, but life wouldn't be quite so sweet without them.
- The basics - food, water, having a (free) roof over my head. And the not so basics - hot water, electricity, adequate heating.
- Being in good health and having insurance!
- Employment. My job hasn't been quite what I wanted or expected, but I'm still learning from it and I'm grateful for that.
- Other language assistants. Those who I feel I've been able to connect with, and those who make an effort to include me on activities knowing that I can't access facebook like most of them can.
- Internet access and skype. Skype has really been a godsend.
- Students who talk!
- Being fortunate (and wealthy) enough to live abroad twice.
- My education. IMSA and Amherst have been such an integral part of my growth, and I'm thankful to have been able to attend both. And, of course, for the generous people who made it possible for me to afford Amherst. 
- Knowing what I want to do in the future. I've met so many people here and have a lot of friends back home who have no idea what they want to do for the rest of their lives, and I feel fortunate to have something to look forward to. I don't know what it is exactly, but I feel like I'm meant to do this and I'm so excited to get started.
- Thanksgiving at Pont-a-Mousson. I'd be so much worse off without it. 
- Living (permanently) in a country that knows how to deal with snow and ice! I've slipped so many times on icy patches here that I've lost count. Icy sidewalks are a public hazard, France!! Use some salt!
- And a whole bunch of other things. Like my cameras, laptop, my external hard drive and the tons of movies I put on it, speculoos, baguettes, camembert, Love Actually, the electric piano at the lycee, good wine, movies in vo, vin chaud, trains, Christmas music, tea, and sunny days. 

And, of course, the fact that I'll be spending Christmas in Paris with Jeff, and then going to Goettingen for New Years! So excited to spend part of the holiday season with friends.