giving thanks (or ahpee tenksgeeveen in french)

with our "turkey".

this week, thanks to mom, we were able to host a proper thanksgiving (or at least close to one)... a few weeks ago, yet another care package arrived, and this one's theme was "everything but the turkey"... indeed, it contained just about everything we'd need to have turkey-day dinner, minus the bird... sooo... we were able to celebrate in true form after all.

i started the pie in the morning, and had the oven going all day... good times, and our apartment was nice & toasty. keep in mind that things that all you americans take for granted during your holiday meals, do not even exist here in france. for example, when my fellow american roommate jacqueline & i tried explaining pumpkin pie (which i know most people at home simply adore), the idea was welcomed with a dégoútante (revolting), and perplexed faces. when i attempted to explain the wonders of the cranberry (as i am simply the biggest fan i know of cranberry juice), i was asked if it was the same thing as a cerise (cherry) or a groseille (redcurrant). as i explained the french word of canneberge to them, again, i got puzzled looks. two of my 200 students even had a clue as to what i was talking about, and they were still unable to make their collegues understand. i've found cranberry sauce here, jarred, looking somewhat like strawberry jelly, and also a bottle of 19-euro juice at the irish specialty store. needless to say, that thanksgiving here is not at all possible without the aid of étranger sections in the grocery store, and moms like mine. :)


care package from mom.


jacqueline getting creative with the decorations.

i decided to head this one up (and never having done thanksgiving dinner, was a little intimidated, i won't lie), and invite people over on wednesday, instead of thursday, mainly because of class schedules, and i had a free day. everything was quite the success, and i think everyone had a great time with good friends, food, & wine.


assistantes at tenksgeeveen.

the menu of the evening:
roast chicken aka poulet rôti (our "turkey")
homemade mashed potatoes with buerre salé & crème fraîche
gravy
stovetop stuffing
smuggled squash with brown sugar & buerre salé
green bean casserole (the french fried onions took me three attempts to two different supermarkets to be found)
cranberry sauce à la can
pumpkin pie & chantilly
assortment of cheeses & fruits (with ferrero rocher), compliments of saskia
rosé, compliments of fleur & male
and a delectable bordeaux, compliments of nicolas ;)


the spread.


doing "the honors".


saskia's amazing cheese tray.


emmental, grapes, clementines, & ferrero rocher. yum.

i'm pretty sure everyone else enjoyed themselves, but for me, this was one of the best times i've had in little ol' lannion to date. though i missed being with everyone at home, it was nice to spend it with our little assistante family. and for the first time, i actually felt like i fit in in this strange place.

in other news:
our couchsquatter finally left... unfortunately, this wasn't the best of cs experiences, and i'm trying not to let it color future ones. also, i went exploring with her a little & checked out some more nearby coastline & a megalithic site. i'll put up some more pictures soon. also, i went to st malo for a fete with all of the amazing people i had met a month ago on my way to england. i ended up slipping & injuring myself, and making a bit of a scene in which i'm terribly sorry for the trouble i caused. hopefully, they'll come for a party sometime in my neck-of-the-woods after the holidays. we'll see. school's getting slightly better, but is still terribly unorganized. i was given one of my groups two weeks in a row (and since i've finally devised a way of making lesson plans that i can feasibly use two weeks in a row, since technically i wouldn't be seeing a single group more than once in a two-week time period), i was stuck when one of the profs threw this one at me. the students are simply delighted to play hangman in english though, and i thought it would be fun to make this class of 20-something boys sing 'rudolph the red-nosed reindeer'. it was indeed grand and their participation was exceptional.