As a coop student from Glasgow Caledonian University, working in Boston has provided me with a lot of new experiences and, of course, traditions. With Thanksgiving steadily approaching and an invitation to spend the holiday with my family in Connecticut I was unsure what to expect. I really do not understand anything about this holiday or what goes on. All I know is there is a lot of food involved.
First, I turned to my trusty best friend to help me through the preparation stage – Pinterest. I searched through endless images and ideas for what to bring as a gift, I asked my colleagues, I asked my friends all to no avail. I decided that I would stick with a good Scottish tradition of making tablet, which obviously no one else would bring. Tablet is like a sort of cake or dessert from Scotland which is made with sugar, condensed milk and butter. Delicious!
Next I had to decide on what to wear, is this a formal dinner or a casual dinner? Pinterest seemed to go for comfort but with a little style. I decided to go for a sweatshirt, skirt, tights and flats. Seemed easy enough to me! However Thanksgiving was way more casual than I could have thought, everyone was happy in sweatpants and just to relax. It was an amazing tradition to be a part of.
Travelling was exactly as I expected – a nightmare. I am a total stress pot when things don’t go to plan. I had planned to get the 3:30pm train to Providence where my family would pick me up and drive to Connecticut, easy right? My boss kindly let me out at 2pm, off I rushed to catch what I thought was the 2:30pm train to Providence. Nope. I ended up on the wrong train, panicked and got out in the middle of nowhere at ‘Route 128’. To my horror the next train was over an hour away, I am clueless with travelling further than the Boston MBTA. So, I sat for the next hour asking and double checking when the next Providence train was.
To my delight a lovely lady confirmed one was just approaching, off I went with my mini suitcase and two bags. The train conductor stopped me to confirm if I had the tickets for the train, I showed him my MBTA ticket to be told this was an Amtrak train. What the difference is I do not know. In the spirit of Thanksgiving and for some lucky reason he let me on, for free! The train was jam packed, sold out and here I was travelling for free and 4 times faster than my original plan. I arrived in Providence in less than 20 minutes and couldn’t thank my lucky stars any more.
After such an ordeal, to be greeted by family was a welcome relief. I felt at home staying with my extended family and treated so well. I was completely spoiled meaning could not have asked for any more. I was shown around Connecticut, the casinos, taken to the movies and of course Black Friday shopping.
Thanksgiving Day was perfect. After sleeping in until about 9am, I got ready and headed down stairs. Feeling a little overdressed in my outfit I shrugged it off and was put to work. I helped with the basics, as let’s put it this way, I am not the best cook. I helped with unboxing things and washing dishes etc. When all the basic tasks were complete I was propped in front of the TV to watch THE best thing I have ever seen; The Macy’s parade. This is claimed to be America’s favorite holiday tradition and I can sure see why. As I watched the 89th Annual parade I was in awe, with over 8000 participants, celebrities, musicians, The Radio City Rockettes and scenes from Broadway! My favorite float had to be the Cracker Jack float which was a huge baseball stadium and a family taking a selfie which then projected onto a big screen. It was amazing.
Then comes food, so much food. We had a buffet style dinner and we had the tradition dinner of turkey, stuffing, gravy, mash, vegetables, sweet potatoes, and for dessert cheesecake! It was nothing less than perfection. I was so full for the rest of the day. For which I watched so much football. I have never watched so much football ever. My Dad is a huge Eagles fan so as you know, never ends up well for us. So here is my Dad before the epic defeat supporting them from Scotland:
However, my favorite part of Thanksgiving in general is the left overs. I can not believe how much food we had left and would eat left overs for weeks if I could. I was really impressed with Thanksgiving and the hospitality I received. Out of the 6 months I have been in Boston this certainly has become one of my favorite weekends and one I will cherish forever.