Wednesday, November 26, 2014

This is Home

Tonight I left work a little early and headed to the big supermarket in Clapham Junction to get the last remaining items for my contribution to for Thanksgiving Dinner tomorrow.

Last year I hosted the event for about 20 people in my tiny city-sized flat and despite the lack of seats or a table (which had to be removed to fit more bodies) we had a great time. And I swore I’d never do it again! My whole body ached from lifting the 17 pound turkey in and out of the oven every 10 minutes to bask it because I’d turned it into flames (actual flames in my oven) in the first five minutes of cooking and was terrified of ruining it and subsequently the day for everyone coming. (And I don’t even like turkey!)

This year the sympathy for putting on the special day goes to an American friend whose taken on the task of feeding 18 of her closest friends and American “stragglers” and I am thankful for her! I’m providing a double batch of Mac and Cheese and Buckeyes as a dessert nibble. I made the long (ok, 15 minutes by bus but its out of the way) trek to Junction in search of Monterrey Jack cheese at the only place I thought I might be able to find it. Wrong again – Monterrey Jack does not exist in this country – even at the British Wal-Mart!

Still the trip proved to be quite entertaining as I observed other Americans in the same “last minute Thanksgiving Day” shopping panic as me! Armed with long lists and full buggies, I watched, as they’d pick up a possible substitute to the particular item they were looking for and contemplate; Pick up the item. “Is this ok?” Put down the item. Google it. Pick it up a different item. Put it down. Pick up the first item again. A simple headshake which clearly means, “guess we’ll see” and into the buggy it goes!

And I wasn’t the only one to notice the behavior …

Conversation # 1: Large British man to confused American woman

Brit: “Getting ready for Christmas dinner?”
Woman: “Oh no! This is for Thanksgiving … I hope…”

Conversation # 2: American wife to British husband

Wife: “I think this is what we need. Is this what we need?”
Hubby just shrugs: “I don’t know what its for”
Wife: “Ok flour. Which one? I think it’s this one … “ and picks up largest bag of flour
Hubby: “Just get a small one – wait – what’s it for?”
Wife: “Ok small. It’s just for the gravy, I think. Lets go over the list. Cranberries – check. Flour – check … “

As I walked out of earshot of the conversation I couldn’t help but smile. This year I don’t feel like I’m the only one preparing for Thanksgiving in a far away land. We’re all in this together!

On Sunday, we had our first Thanksgiving with my oldest London friend and her partner. The two of us reminisced about our first Thanksgiving here in 2010. It was so hard, many tears and a few too many bottles of wine! We giggled at the old dramatic versions of ourselves and praised each other at how far we’ve come.

Thanksgiving is my favorite holiday and I’m typically homesick around this time of year, but this year has been different. This year, despite current struggles, I feel settled. Most importantly, this year I’m thankful because I’ve realized where ever I am, I can and will make it my home.

Friday, October 31, 2014

It's the Little Things

I used to find the joy in the little things in each day but over the past few months’ life has become big and hard and thought consuming. I spend my free time filling my mind with anything that will take my thoughts away from whatever is plaguing it and in the process I've forgot to notice the little joys that make the days better. So, I'm going to put down the phone and open my eyes and live each moment to the fullest. This is my experiment to share the joys of my day.

Here are my joyful accounts of the last week:

On Sunday I attended, in London, my first ever NFL football game! My opinion on NFL hasn't changed one bit, it might have actually lessened it, but what was so fun about watching the game in London was that everyone wore whatever football t-shirt they had. You would have never been able to easily tell it was a Lions or Falcons game. After the game we were walking back to the tube when we saw an older couple walking towards us wearing none other than a University of South Carolina Gamecock sweatshirt. Being the proud South Carolina grad that I am, we waved them down. As luck would have it he's just married his high school sweetheart, a nice British lady from Isle of White, and moved to England! He even had connections with my best friend's (let's call him Bestie) hometown in Georgia. Homesickness must have sunk in for the new English resident because it felt like he clung to us. They've invited us to visit and they even joined our group for a quick drink to continue the conversation. Only time will tell whether this new connection continues past our brief encounter or is just a sweet memory of that night.

One night this week I'd had a bugger of a day and decided to clear my head with a run around Clapham Common. It felt great running in the cold air through the dark shadows of the park and as I ran the frustrations of the last couple of weeks just started to flow out. There was no one around so I ran and cried and was starting to feel a little better when I started to approach a woman. "Excuse me, excuse me" she said in a strong foreign accent. I stopped, "yes?" She blurted in broken English "Put her hood on head, please?" and turned around to reveal this sweet little curly hair baby girl, probably only 3 or 4 months old. I fixed her little hood and walked back to the office and smiling. Why she decided to ask puffy faced me I will never know, but what a sweet reminder that we aren't alone.

It really is the little things that make this life worth living.

Double rainbow outside the office a couple weeks ago