In 22 years, this was the first time that I’ve spent Thanksgiving away from my family. I explained to my students that Thanksgiving is a time to be with your family and that I was sad to be away. Knowing that spending the holiday alone would suck, we had a potluck at my place. I was initially planning to have about 10 people over, but the group swelled to a crowded 40. Nearly everyone brought something to share, so it turned out fine. What worried more than anything was the Turkey. Fully aware that the success or failure of the entire holiday could depend on the turkey, I did not want to be on turkey duty. However, with Minh’s help, I made one damn good turkey. 40 people (half strangers) + 25 bottles of wine + 50 beers + 2 bowls of sangria + lots of food and my awesome turkey = a pretty good Thanksgiving party. I was delighted.
Minh tried surprising me for my birthday during the party. She tried getting in touch with everyone and tell them to show up 30 minutes late, so that I would think that all 30 confirmed attendees decided not to come. Unfortunately, the people I don’t know never got the message so I was sitting around with a bunch of strangers for 30 minutes. It was a relief to see everyone else finally show up, though. Minh and her friend made me a chocolate rum cake, which makes me very happy.
A couple of days later, my actual birthday came. I planned on going out for dinner and a movie with Minh because there was a film festival taking place at the time. When I headed out with Minh and Antoine, I found that Jackeline (roomie) had planned a surprise dinner for me but I wasn’t there to participate. I was kind of disappointed because I wanted to go out to dinner for my birthday rather than stay home, but I came back after the movie out of obligation. I was really surprised though and am glad I came back. Jackeline made me some delicious traditional birthday dish from Costa Rica and got me a huge box of chocolates that I promptly devoured. Minh gave me a handmade scarf, which meant that the next day I would wear a scarf for the first time in my life. The coolest gift of all, however, was from Antoine. He gave me a really nice raclette machine. Party time. I’ll be sad to see him go.
Speaking of holidays, we’ve decorated a bit. Minh and I surprised the roomies with stockings. Turns out that they’re not so common in France, while in Italy they’re not put up until January when a witch comes by to fill them up. That is, if I correctly understood the thick accent of my Italian roommate. We also got a Christmas tree and decorations to put up. I’m pumped.
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