We had a great Thanksgiving! We spent it with co-workers at a co-worker family's flat. It was a spacious flat and able to accommodate a good crowd. There were 16 adults and 7 kids and two babies - only missing 4 adults. It was potluck obviously and there were many delicious eats! We stuffed ourselves full, talked a while, and then the men and women split to play games which was a lot of fun! :-) The kids played amongst themselves throughout the flat and we all just had a grand ol' time. We forgot our camera so no pictures to post - sorry!
I'd posted last time about going on a hunt for sweet potatoes and after hitting several stores, I only found one. Just a single potato. I was a little sad then I shook it off because there is a lot more important things to be thankful for! Then, I found out today that there are a bunch of sweet potatoes at an international supermarket chain store. Too late.
It was way past A's bedtime when we finally collected our dirty serving dishes and utensils and left. As G and I stepped outside, we both suddenly realized that we weren't in America anymore. It was just the oddest sensation because we never forgot that we were in a foreign country the entire day but we'd just celebrated an American holiday, ate American food, hung out with Americans, and played American games. I think we just enjoyed ourselves so thoroughly that our brains relaxed unconsciously and we forgot to expect foreign surroundings when we walked out the building. Oh yeah, we're not in Kansas anymore, Toto. And no, the odd sensation wasn't accompanied by homesickness so don't feel sorry for us :-)
Oh, G's birthday was on Thanksgiving and I made a gluten-free coconut cake for him with whipped cream icing and coconut flakes. It was really yummy. The texture of the cake changed after a day (that's the way it is with gluten-free baking sometimes) but we still chowed down on cake for a couple of days. I think G really enjoyed his birthday this year hanging out with our Sunday morning group - we loved the group and have couples our age in the group that we love and get along with.
We put up our Christmas tree just before Thanksgiving but left it bare since I had to hunt for lights to string on the tree (which I finally purchased yesterday). Both of our language teachers helped us hang the lights on our tree this afternoon so that was really fun. There are still no ornaments on the tree yet and I'm considering waiting until the next time my language teacher comes to hang the ornaments with me. That would be a lovely tradition to start, inviting nationals to put up the tree and hang the ornaments with us.
We will be hosting Christmas this year for our Sunday morning group and I am looking forward to that. They are such a great bunch and I will enjoy having them in our home.
Well, now that the Thanksgiving holiday weekend is over, we're back in the swing of things: language, end of the year administrative things, projects, Christmas shopping, and countless errands which are never-ending. G has school on top of all that, also - poor guy.
I hope you all had a wonderful Thanksgiving and I hope the Christmas season will be full of joy as we remember who the "star" of Christmas is and how he took on flesh and dwelt among us.
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