I'm afraid I'm already going to buck the trend of this blog and completely mess with the chronological order of these post. Think of it as a commercial in the larger story of my arrival and initial days in Saudi.
Many of you (at least those that are Canadian) are joyfully celebrating Thanksgiving with family and friends, and well deserved! Go you! Unfortunately when you live in the Middle East there is no celebration of roasting bird, eating until you burst, and having a beer or two. To make matters worse, the weekend runs from Thursday to Friday, so I can't even celebrate on the appropriate days! I tell you...the things I have to put up with, sheesh. I floated the idea to my colleagues about celebrating Thanksgiving over our weekend at my apartment. All but three of us are American, English or Lebanese...so they were a little weary about celebrating this early version of a well known American holiday. I calmed them and managed to convince them that it is traditional to celebrate early to ensure we have enough fat to feed off of during hibernation in our igloos all winter. They agreed.
The dinner was a big hit and we all had a great time. I managed to roast up four chickens (no turkey here) quite perfectly...fall off the bone good. Everyone brought something potluck style until we had two tables packed with bowls, plates, and baking dishes worth of food. Peter, the Art teacher, managed to also provide two MASSIVE apple pies for dessert. Shout out to him for use of his oven to cook the bird...my oven is still in a "not working" state. The food was great but I was a little disappointed to not have access to some Drambuie to settle it sll down. Perhaps a couple on Christmas to make up for it Dad? There are some photos I took with my phone on my Facebook page so shoot over there to have a look!
To finish up I just want to take a moment to truly express what this holiday means to me. Too often I have seen Thanksgiving as an excuse to have a long weekend and eat a ton of food. Only since I have been travelling and working abroad have I really discovered what it means to think about what I am thankful for in my life. I am thankful to be healthy, to be happy, and to be pursuing my chosen career. I am thankful to have a job in an amazing new school, to have opportunities to learn new things every day about a different culture and to teach new things about my own. I am thankful to have amazing people in my life. I have been blessed to always meet and become close friends with people from all walks of life through school, work, theatre, and more. I am thankful to those who I've met briefly, to those who I have shared a laugh with, to those I have grown with, and to those I am closest with. I am thankful to those I am meeting for the first time and who I will continue to get to know in the days, months, and years to come. I am thankful to have a roof over my head, food in my fridge, and air in my lungs.
But most of all, I am thankful to have a family that I love, that loves me, and who supports me through all decisions I have made. From changing majors to moving to Saudi Arabia...I have not always made it easy to understand why I make the choices I do but I know that I can make those choices because my family will always stand by them and me, cheering me on as I do. As much as I would love to be home in Ontario to eat with them, part of me is glad I was able to make a decision to move here and it's okay.
To everyone celebrating, I miss you all and I love you all. Enjoy that bird!
Steelers are on now...got to go.
Many of you (at least those that are Canadian) are joyfully celebrating Thanksgiving with family and friends, and well deserved! Go you! Unfortunately when you live in the Middle East there is no celebration of roasting bird, eating until you burst, and having a beer or two. To make matters worse, the weekend runs from Thursday to Friday, so I can't even celebrate on the appropriate days! I tell you...the things I have to put up with, sheesh. I floated the idea to my colleagues about celebrating Thanksgiving over our weekend at my apartment. All but three of us are American, English or Lebanese...so they were a little weary about celebrating this early version of a well known American holiday. I calmed them and managed to convince them that it is traditional to celebrate early to ensure we have enough fat to feed off of during hibernation in our igloos all winter. They agreed.
The dinner was a big hit and we all had a great time. I managed to roast up four chickens (no turkey here) quite perfectly...fall off the bone good. Everyone brought something potluck style until we had two tables packed with bowls, plates, and baking dishes worth of food. Peter, the Art teacher, managed to also provide two MASSIVE apple pies for dessert. Shout out to him for use of his oven to cook the bird...my oven is still in a "not working" state. The food was great but I was a little disappointed to not have access to some Drambuie to settle it sll down. Perhaps a couple on Christmas to make up for it Dad? There are some photos I took with my phone on my Facebook page so shoot over there to have a look!
To finish up I just want to take a moment to truly express what this holiday means to me. Too often I have seen Thanksgiving as an excuse to have a long weekend and eat a ton of food. Only since I have been travelling and working abroad have I really discovered what it means to think about what I am thankful for in my life. I am thankful to be healthy, to be happy, and to be pursuing my chosen career. I am thankful to have a job in an amazing new school, to have opportunities to learn new things every day about a different culture and to teach new things about my own. I am thankful to have amazing people in my life. I have been blessed to always meet and become close friends with people from all walks of life through school, work, theatre, and more. I am thankful to those who I've met briefly, to those who I have shared a laugh with, to those I have grown with, and to those I am closest with. I am thankful to those I am meeting for the first time and who I will continue to get to know in the days, months, and years to come. I am thankful to have a roof over my head, food in my fridge, and air in my lungs.
But most of all, I am thankful to have a family that I love, that loves me, and who supports me through all decisions I have made. From changing majors to moving to Saudi Arabia...I have not always made it easy to understand why I make the choices I do but I know that I can make those choices because my family will always stand by them and me, cheering me on as I do. As much as I would love to be home in Ontario to eat with them, part of me is glad I was able to make a decision to move here and it's okay.
To everyone celebrating, I miss you all and I love you all. Enjoy that bird!
Steelers are on now...got to go.
No comments:
Post a Comment