Thanksgiving: European style

As I type this post I am eating left over corn bread like any good American should the day after Thanksgiving.  But with my Thanksgiving being in Dijon this year I am happy to be able to eat any sort of left-overs today as they were not a guarantee! Yesterday I celebrated Thanksgiving with eight other people and it was a fabulous night.  But there was a lot of effort put in to create such an “as-American-as-possible” Thanksgiving in France!
Once all of the basic details were figured out (who would attend and where it would be held) three other assistants and I took a trip up to Paris for the day last week in order to go to an American goods store, appropriately named Thanksgiving.  There we purchased pumpkin pie ingredients, cranberry sauce, stuffing, gravy, and any other little American necessities we could find.  It may have been a bit pricy but it was worth it!  When we arrived back in Dijon we made a plan to buy a turkey.  Unfortunately, it was too early to order a quality turkey because it's mainly used for Christmas meals here so they don't really show up in markets until December.  Alas, we settled on having chicken!  I went out and bought the vegetables and other last minute needs earlier this week so we would be completely prepared for our "feast".  

As we planned to properly celebrate Thanksgiving on the actual day, we somehow forgot that most of us work long days at school on Thursdays.  So, luckily I got out of school at 2pm and I prepared the corn bread, stuffing, gravy, mashed potatoes, green beans, carrots, and corn.  I didn't realize how much work it is to prepare so much-- especially in such a small place like my flat with its limited cooking pots/plans/burners and tiny counter top oven!  So, as I was preparing all the fixings, another assistant prepared the chicken in-between his classes and three other assistants prepared the space where we held the dinner (a large room in the lycée they work and live in) -- Thanksgiving in France had begun!  Luckily, another teaching assistant came over to my flat to help me carry everything over to the meal.  It was pretty cold out, and the 4 huge bags we had were heavy and fragile since we had to strategically place the gravy and vegetables so they would not spill- tricky but we were successful!  Once we arrived with the food it was a fun, relaxing evening.  (Aside from opening the cranberry sauce...we didn't have a can opener so we had to resort to a tool kit with a hammer and screw driver hahaha)

With 9 of us celebrating (2 Americans, 3 English, 1 Scot, 2 Germans, and 1 Polish), and the majority of them being European, it was really fun to share my holiday and traditions with them!  They asked questions about the history, food, what my Thanksgivings are usually like at home and were just very appreciative of our meal and being able to celebrate together.  We had a big, traditional table and once we all made our dinner plates we sat down and I made a Thanksgiving toast.  (In my family my Dad usually does this so this was a change!)  Although we had plenty of wine for dinner, we specifically purchased Kir Royal (Champagne and crème de cassis- traditional Dijon drink) for our Turkey Day toast!  After the toast we each went around and said something we were thankful for- it was so lovely.  Then we all discussed holidays and traditions in our own countries (did you know Polish Christmas has twelve courses?! TWELVE!) and I of course enjoy anything multi-cultural so I really enjoyed it!  For dessert we had pumpkin pie, brownies, and apple pie!  And then we somehow started reminiscing about growing up in the 90s and started singing and dancing to old school songs from Britney, NSYNC, BSB, S Club 7, Spice Girls, and more.  It was hilarious! :) And even though I wasn't with my family the evening had a very homey-vibe and was so comfortable-- it surpassed all my Thanksgiving-in-Europe expectations!

Now I’m going to listen to Christmas music because today is the official start of the Holiday Season! 1 month til Christmas and I can’t wait to shop here! (Christmas markets begin on December 3rd in Dijon-woohoo!)

Everyone before our dinner

Table set and ready to toast and eat! :)

Word of the Post: être reconnaissant – to be thankful