Thanksgiving: California Dreamin'

Thanksgiving is the quintessential American holiday. Throughout the country families come together and proclaim to each other what they are thankful for. Turkey with stuffing and mashed potatoes with gravy are devoured and traditionally many families spend the evening watching the big game on TV. This holiday does not exist in Germany.

I've never been away from home during Thanksgiving so I didn't know how I'd feel being in Germany. I had class the morning of Thanksgiving, and then at 4:30 I had a meeting with the UN for my internship. During the afternoon I took the time to run a few errands. It was really different being able to go into any store I wanted and shop on Thanksgiving day. At home only a few stores are open and not for that many hours.

I never really felt homesick here until Thanksgiving. Thanksgiving is a time to spend with family, and I really truly missed mine. Our meeting with the UN didn't go quite as planned which only added to the frustration but at 6:00pm our Academy prepared a Thanksgiving potluck for us that we all attended. Any homesick feelings I had were erased eating dinner with all of the people I have become close with during this experience. There was everything from turkey to deviled eggs to guacamole which wasn't that weird to me because Nonna always makes it even if it is Thanksgiving.

After dinner a few of us went to a bar in Bonn called Flowers. It's the hippie bar in the area. It was a lot of fun because they were playing a lot of old hits that we were all singing along too. I made the bartender/DJ play ABBA and the crowd really approved. I could relate to every lyric of California Dreamin' so I had to sing my little heart out. It's funny but being in this bar brought me closer to America than I thought I would be on Thanksgiving.