International Thanksgiving Feast

We have hosted Thanksgiving at our home every year we lived overseas, but one.  It is our tradition for all those Americans and internationals we know and do life with… and it is fabulous!

This year we had over 20 people from all over the world, including the United States, Canada, England, France, Estonia and Palestine.  It has always been, for us, a time to come together as Americans and friends and eat and eat and eat and eat.  Living in the Middle East we learned that relationships are built around food and drink.  And living in a place where local customs and language is so different than our own, it is important to have these cultural connections with each other to make us feel a sense of “home”.  It is also fun to share our American customs with others.  This year several of our foreign friends had never experienced an American Thanksgiving… they had only seen it on t.v.  Before we sat down, we all went around the table and shared something we were thankful for that year.  Then we started feasting.  Many had never had a pumpkin pie or sweet potatoes with brown sugar or stuffing!  Consensus was… they LOVED it!

It is important when living overseas to not only get to know the local culture, but also to share your culture with those around you.

One of the challenges of living overseas and getting a turkey… the head was still on… this is no Butterball!

Sharing what we are thankful for.