Holidays always make you a little homesick. You long for the coziness of all your comforts, your family, your traditions, your same favorites. This usually is in deep contrast to living abroad in another culture. You have to embrace the new and find ways to make it feel special. We tried to keep things festive over here, starting with Thanksgiving day. The kids school does not have it off, but each class/grade did their own version of a celebration.

We spent our Thanksgiving serving pumpkin pie to all the middle schoolers, who were all super polite and grateful for a pie break in the middle of their day. It was really wonderful to share just a small part of our American traditions with so many kids, many of who are not American. Mo got to be the extra whipped cream guy, he was very popular. That night we left the cooking to the experts and headed to dinner with friends for all the traditional fare. I felt grateful for the chance to celebrate in a new but familiar way, it makes you feel not quite so far away.