Thanksgiving was fun. It was all-American: turkey, stuffing, gravy, mashed potatoes, sweet potatoes, cranberry and us. I mean that the people were all American, too. Well, Jerry's Chinese-American, so we had chinese dumplings and something else that I can't remember the name of, but that was very delicious! It was tough, though. I have gotten so used to eating my big meal in the middle of the day. We didn't eat until around 5:00, so I was starving. And then it was hard to have all that food in my stomach in the evening, all I wanted to do was to go to sleep.
Tonight is Thanksgiving #2. This will be a lot bigger - I think there are 15 or so adults and a bunch of kids. And this will be a mixed group - 4 Americans, 1 German-American and the rest all "real" Germans. It should be really fun. The question is.........
Will my jello have set by then?
I made jello for tonight. I have to leave here in about an hour. When I checked about an hour ago, it hadn't set. So I put it in the freezer....think that will help? If it doesn't.....well, there won't be any jello tonight. (I think we'll still have enough food!) They don't have J-E-L-L-O jello here, they have this other stuff. And you have to add sugar to it, it doesn't already have sugar in the mix. But still, I don't know why it's not gelling.
The other day, an American said to me that everything's harder over here. And then I had a couple of minor things happen to me, some bigger like not being able to get into my apartment and some really minor like the jello not gelling and I started to think that maybe she's right. Certainly, not everything is easy.
But was life that easy in Michigan? For example, what did I do when my sump pump was acting up? I called my Dad. It wasn't any easier than when my mirrors fell down here. It was just that the solution was easier - calling my dad is certainly easier than having to go downstairs and tell my neighbor that I need help, again. I know I can count on my dad to help me any time, whereas I feel like I'm imposing on my neighbor every time (even though he says that I'm not). But that's true whether I live anywhere in the US not in vicinity of my family or in Europe, so that has nothing to do with being an expat.
I don't think life's harder over here. It's just not as intuitive. I have to spend more time researching where to buy something. Or I have to ask someone. And I have to adapt. There are certainly differences here, for example, there's no Target, Gap or Old Navy. There are some things I have been unable to find, like Diet Coke. But when I moved here, I knew it wasn't going to be the same as living in the States. And there's nothing that's missing here that I can't live without. So I have to be willing to be flexible enough to accept the changes that this move has brought to my life, both good and bad.
So I'm thankful. I'm thankful that I've been able to adapt (relatively well). I'm thankful for the friends that I've made here, who help me when I have problems or questions. I'm thankful for this opportunity to live in Germany. I'm thankful for what I've learned about myself through this experience, both the "good" and the "bad."
And I'm thankful for the opportunity to come to Michigan in just two and a half weeks!
What are you thankful for?
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2 comments:
We missed you so much! It was weird, still fun but weird, just having it be the five of us. It was just like dinner on any other night. Usually it's such a festive household with so much family and then some random people, but this time it was just the five of us. The food was so good, as usual.
(Plus I don't know if mom told you, but Mason was VERY fussy that day, so that fun!)
I'm glad to hear that you had a good dinner as well.
Hi Sarah,
Happy belated Thanksgiving. It was nice to read that you had plenty of friends to celebrate the holiday with. Im thankful that I did not move to Boston!
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