Thank You

Another fun fact about me: I'm technically not American. My mum is Australian and my dad is Canadian, so we don't really do the whole Thanksgiving thing on our own. Sure, we've attended Thanksgiving dinners at our friends houses, but we've never hosted, and it wasn't ever a big deal for us if we miss it. So when I realized Thanksgiving was coming up, I wasn't too bummed out. Except the unexpected happened: this past week, I've been to so many Thanksgivings that it has made up for all the years I have missed. I'll be going to four Thanksgiving events. FOUR.

On actual Thanksgiving, Roehampton University threw a dinner for all the international students. It was held in Grove House, the Pride and Prejudice house on campus. It was really fancy. And the food, well, they tried their dang hardest. There was a turkey, sweet potato, bean casserole, stuffing, and mac and cheese (which was a welcomed surprise). They even had pumpkin pie and apple pie for dessert (more like apple strudel but like I said, they tried). Also, free wine!

The following day, Brenna, Ashley, Emma and I did our own Thanksgiving for our British friends. Ashley was on mash potatoes, Emma on veggies, Brenna on the stuffing, while I was in charge of watching our chicken (we couldn't find a turkey). Since obviously we've never made Thanksgiving on our own before, it was a bit of an ordeal. We laughed, we cried (thanks to cutting up onions), there was a crisis with the asparagus twice, and the ovens barely worked. But, we did it, so that's what counts. And, everyone liked it so that's good too.

And then the following day, some friends of my parents, the Langfitts, humbly invited us to their Thanksgiving. And man oh man, it was soo nice to have a home-cooked meal. Everything was delicious. Afterwards, we all sat by a fire pit outside and chatted, roasting marshmallows and making s'mores (WITH REAL AMERICAN HERSHEY CHOCOLATE AND MARSHMALLOWS).

And then on December 2nd, some family friends of mine, the Allens, also invited me to Thanksgiving dinner! And I can't wait!

Thank you to everyone who has hosted me and my friends for Thanksgiving. It was truly amazing and we felt as if we were home again.

That's all for now. Before I go, here's my mum's Thanksgiving message to me. Which I think is pretty hip of you mum, I must say.

-Syd.