I'm still celebrating ...

Thanksgiving is such an odd celebration living in a country that doesn't recognize it as your native homelands' holiday.  There are images of families gathered around tables as seen in films by my Austrian friends, but when it comes down to it ... there are high-priced cranberries, hard-to-come-by-sweet potatoes, non-existent corn syrup, small-breasted Turkey's (OK, only breasts), make-your-own pumpkin, imported-from-my-recent-trip-back-to-the-U.S. pecans, and fake-yet-still-pretty-tasty mushroom soup substitutes that all point to the lack of Thanksgiving being anything Austrian.  And ... that's OK!  It's not supposed to be Austrian.

Yet, my dear Austrian friends got a taste (insert giant smile for the pun) of Thanksgiving yesterday.  I made the basics (Turkey, cranberry sauce, stuffing, sweet potatoes, green bean casserole, corn muffins, pecan pie) to share with those we've come to love.  It was their first real Thanksgiving experience.

Years from now, chances are many of our dear - and very young friends - will reflect upon our day together.  They will remember all the food and the new word they all learned ... "Turkey coma" ... from experience.  They will remember the pies that were oh, so sweet ... the paper plates that were oh, so American ... but I desire that they remember the sweet bond of friendship and love that was more present at our table than anything I prepared in my kitchen.  For I will celebrate the faces that I've come to recognize as my "family" ... in a foreign land ... that make my living in Austria feel like "home".

and for that ... I continue to celebrate,
while awakening from my Turkey coma,
christina