As many of you know, Univeristy of Wyoming has one of the best study abroad programs in the nation, giving hundreds of students every semester the opportunity to experience life in far-away places. A year ago, I spent my weekends visiting places like London and Freiburg. Every other weekend I lived the dream of having adventures around Europe. The tradeoff for six months away was missing the holidays with my family and close friends. I don’t regret my time abroad, but the experiences made me appreciate holidays at home with my family, especially Thanksgiving.
Fortunately, my friends in Germany expressed interest in celebrating Thanksgiving. They even celebrated with me on the Thursday of Thanksgiving, so we ate dinner and then I Skyped with my family. It was definitely a Thanksgiving I won’t forget. A Dane, Korean, Hungarian and German helped create my first Friendsgiving experience. I improvised when making the food, but it’s not like my friends were going to criticize a Thanksgiving meal when they had never had one before.
Dinner as a whole, taught me to appreciate the wonder of American grocery stores. Thanksgiving foods line the aisles in November. Not surprisingly, finding all the proper ingredients to make dinner took some craftiness and creativity. Turkey, pumpkin and sweet potatoes proved to be the most challenging foods to acquire. As it turns out, the Germans in my town weren’t super big on turkey. Fun fact: sweet potatoes are a relatively new product in supermarkets in Europe, and are expensive. Pumpkins come in little sizes, not cans. Overall, dinner came out beautifully. My friends learned about Thanksgiving and American food, and I learned that Friendsgiving is just as fulfilling as a Thanksgiving at home.
I look forward to more Friendsgivings. As happy as I was to spend this Thanksgiving with my family, I know that I won’t always be able to go home for Thanksgiving. Spending Thanksgiving with friends is just as fantastic as spending it with family, because you’re spending with people who make you thankful for the life you have.