I made it through Thanksgiving...barely haha Thursday I spent most of the day working and talking to friends and family. It was a bit rough knowing everyone was together and I was stuck on the other side of the world during a truly American holiday. I hit my homesickness peak, to say the least. That Sunday, however, I completed my first solo Thanksgiving dinner! I made everything on my list and finished it on time too! My friend Steph came over to help me with the preparations. I ended up having to make a chicken instead of a turkey...but other than that everything was delicious!! Apparently, the grocery stores here don't sell whole turkeys until Christmas time. I would have had to order one from the butcher about a week in advance, plus they're really expensive and I wasn't feeding that many people. But fear not - the chicken and stuffing was delicious! It was the first time me or Steph had stuffed anything...so it was quite the comical experience. Out of everything (chicken, stuffing, cranberry sauce, bread, green bean casserole, peas, carrots, corn, garlic mashed potatoes, lemon pepper zucchini, and sweet potato fries) my one pride and joy was my homemade pumpkin pie! It was my first time making it, and I gotta say: it was way better than any store bought pie I've ever had. I made enough dough and filling for two, so we got to eat pumpkin pie for the rest of the week! No complaints here.
The dinner was well received, aside from the fact that some of the dishes got cold by the time I got around to putting everything on the table and getting everyone sat and organized. It was really interesting sharing Thanksgiving with people who have never experienced it before. Traditional dishes and all. And who says Americans have no culture? ;)
After Thanksgiving, I felt a lot better. Not only was it delicious, but it actually felt like a real Thanksgiving! Even if it was 3 days late. I don't think Christmas will be too bad either. Today I went to the little Christmas market in town they have set up in the plaza with the baby. Everything was red and white and green and best of all - they were playing Christmas carols in English! Feels just like Christmas at home.
In other news, it has been FREEZING over here!! Granted, I was born and raised in Los Angeles, California (aka the Sunshine State) - but still. This morning it was 33˚F and earlier this week IT SNOWED. SNOW!!!! ok ok...it was only for like 15 minutes in the early morning and it didn't stick or anything...but for me this is huge. I had to buy a turtleneck out of necessity yesterday.
Tonight after work I'll be hopping on the train to Lyon to visit Mallory again! It's been snowing over there all week so we shall see how I survive. Hopefully I can find a nice winter coat to buy, because lord knows I did not adequately pack for this kind of weather.
I'll let everyone know how my trip to Lyon goes on Tuesday when I come back!
In the meantime, be jealous of my delicious pumpkin pie...
WHERE IS JAMES!
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