For an American, not being at home in the US for Thanksgiving is pretty depressing. Nonetheless, this year a bunch of my friends got together, both American and non-American, for a pot-luck style meal to celebrate Thanksgiving. I even got to teach some of my friends the story of Thanksgiving. Twelve of us gathered at my friend Vince's place, who was in charge of the turkey, gravy, and dressing. I prepared the mashed potatoes (with hidden bits of jalapeno) and Meg's made my Mom's pecan pie and some tasty guacamole. I also took a raspberry chipotle sauce that my Mom gave me when I was home in July and everyone commented how good it was, for most of them it was a completely new taste and smell. I didn't have to work too hard for that one! :) My friend Vince's oven has a built-in rotisserie which he used to prepare the turkey, it came out really good and everyone gobbled it up. Sebastien and Kaori made an amazing tiramisu dessert. Haruko and Florent brought some various appetizers and awesome green beans. Jeff and Emi brought some tasty lasagna and persimmon. Ayako brought a mind-blowing cheesecake. Andy brought some snazzy mulled wine. And Rob supplied some saucy cranberry sauce. We totally stuffed ourselves and everyone started falling asleep, it was the closest to being home without being home.
I won't be home for Christmas either, I've already blown all of my vacation days for the year and I have to be in Tokyo for support because my manager will be home in Australia. Well, I have one day vacation left, but it's not enough to combine into any trip to the US. Really bummed about that, but there's not much I can do. Luckily some of my friends will be staying around for Christmas, too, and of course Meg will be here so I can hang out with her and her family and then get in some skiing and snowboarding. I bought skis for the first time and my friend Andy gave me his old snowboard so I'm totally going to rip it up.
Happy Thanksgiving everyone!
