I had heard before coming to Denmark that a difficult period for many American students studying abroad is the Thanksgiving holiday. I wasn't expecting that to be true for me necessarily, but it very much was. I experienced my biggest wave yet of feeling homesick on Thanksgiving, and realized that this was the first time I would be spending the day without my family or close friends. I don't want to undermine at all the wonderful people I've met here, but there is a difference between celebrating such family-oriented holidays with people you've known your whole life and with those you met three months ago. For such a culturally American day, too, it is strange to suddenly realize that you are not with Americans who love and appreciate the day as much as you do. So while these things may seem really obvious, and while I may have known them intellectually, it was different to realize them on an emotional level and in the moment. I did have to remind myself though what I was thankful for, and how amazing it was to be with people who cared about me, many of whom were celebrating their first Thanksgiving. On a more logistical note...
Something I quickly realized when planning the big day was that a) I don't really know how to cook, much less cook an entire Thanksgiving feast, b) we rely a lot on canned products to prepare Thanksgiving in the US, and c) most of those canned products are not sold in the US.
Yeah.
Good thing my host mom is a fantastic cook, and was very willing to help me out. She probably took care of a good 87% of the meal, while I made the pumpkin pie my project. Canned pumpkin in Copenhagen was swept off the shelves a solid two weeks before Thanksgiving, and not expecting that at all, I was pretty screwed. After a lot of online research and visiting of several grocery stores, I found the hokkaido squash, a winter squash that is a perfectly suitable substitute for pumpkin, and especially good for pie. Who knew? I wish I could say that I planned for it to be that perfect, but really, I went searching for whatever remotely resembled a pumpkin (I would best describe it as looking like a large, bright orange onion), figured out what the heck it was afterwards, and got really lucky. YAY. Anyhow, it was a real experience to make this pie from scratch, and I found that it tasted really delicious. It was many people's first time to try pumpkin pie, and while not all of them loved it, I was really happy about it.
Steaming squash!
pumpkin pie!!!!!!!!!!!There were 11 guests, and only 1 American - me. A lot of my fellow classmates opted to travel during the four-day weekend (thank you, program, for giving us yet another break) and thus, I was one of the few who chose to stay in Denmark. My cousin from Sweden and her best friend came to visit me, and they partook in the celebrations as well. The remaining 8 guests were all Danes, either members of my host family, or friends.
SWEDES!!!!
My host sisters - singing the Danish national anthem, just a part of the normal festivities
HAPPY THANKSGIVING EVERYONE! :)
Aww, I'm so glad you had a wonderful time preparing for your Thanksgiving with your host family. I actually have a similar story about making an apple pie during my semester abroad, going through the grocery store with a dictionary, trying to find all the ingredients. It was complicated! I think it's great you shared the tradition with your host family.
ReplyDeleteIt was really weird for us to have class on that day and realize that NO ONE was celebrating...
..come to think of it, I think you spent that Thanksgiving at my house.... Maybe? I remember Mom sending me pictures and I think you guys were in them.
<3 you!