Thanksgiving

November was trogging along just fine until someone posted on Facebook how much they were looking forward to the Turkey Feast.  Then it hit me.  Of course I knew I wasn't going to be home for Thanksgiving, at least my left brain knew, but it was something else all together to realize I was going to miss the Turkey Feast.  (For those of you who dont know, the Turkey feast is a pre Thankgiving lunch oragnized and put on by the parents at Gunn to benefit the local food closet.  For a few bucks and a few cans of food you can have turkey with all the fixings and pie on the Thursday before Thanksgiving.  It is my second favorite lunch of the year (after the Korean mothers lunch of course.)) 

I started to get pretty homesick at that point.  The foods I miss, I started to miss more, I got nostalgic for things I have complained about in the past and dont get me started on people.  The violins were working over time.  I am not sure if was better or worse that I didn't really have anyone to complain to.  My chemistry colleagues are Brits or Turks and dont care about Thanksgiving, and all the Americans were also missing Thanksgiving.  I was pretty grouchy getting up and going to school on Thursday this week.  I have worked hard on Thanksgivings in the past, but I have never gone to work before. 

November 24th is Teacher's day in Turkey.  A rememberance set up by Ataturk and taken very seriously by the Turkish teachers.  Once every 7 or so years, teacher's day falls on Thanksgiving and this was one of those years.  Many students wished me a happy teacher's day.  Even google.tr had a teacher's day doodle.  I kept responding with Happy Thanksgiving, which having gone to an American school, the kids had all heard about.  We had a short day (meaning 9th and 10th just didn't meet - see the blog post about the schedule) so we could go to the alumni club for lunch put on by the parents association.  It was very tasty and there was champagne and wine, but it wasn't Thanksgiving. 

Last year some teachers had gone to the Hilton for a Thanksgiving buffet which they said was very good.  We looked into it this year, but at 98TL (about $60) it was more than I wanted to spend.  There was going to be a potluck on campus, which I wasn't too sure about, but it became the best option I had and certainly better than sitting at home alone crying into my proverbial soup.  I made some banana bread (not all that traditional, and it ended up not being quite done in the middle) and hoped for the best. 


The chef had roasted two turkeys and folks had brought bread stuffing, brocoli, mashed potatoes, green salad, cranberry sauce and, most importantly

...pecan pie! I thought my chances of having pecan pie were nil, but apparently, there is a visiting student this semester, whose parents had just flown over from NY and thought to bring two pumpkin and two pecan pies from whole foods. 

Everything was very good and by ignoring the Turkish foods on the buffet, I was able to pretend it really was Thanksgiving.  They had even set up a big screen TV with the Macy's Thanksgiving day parade playing using someone's sling box.

Unfortunately this good feeling was forgotten, when I had to get up and go to work at 7:30 on Friday morning.  Now I have had a nice, regular length weekend, a good portion of which I spent making my Christmas collage of travel pictures, writing my letter, and going out into the world to find glossy photo paper and envelopes.  There are some friends of the head master who are leaving for the US tomorrow and have offered to take mail with them.  I printed 33 copies before I ran out of ink (that will be its own adventure).  The other 70 or so letters I will either send with one of the teachers who is going home for Christmas, or I will send from here, but in any case, if you dont get a letter form me in the next week, dont hold your breath, it will likely be January.  Please dont let that stop you from writing to me (-:

To end this, and to get out of my funk, I am going to spend a few minutes remembering what Thanksgiving is about because I really do have a lot to be thankful for.

- For the lady at church who showed me what page we were on

- For the RC grad who showed me where the board game cafe is and helped me buy envelopes

- For the HR assistant who helped me set up internet banking this week

- for the folks in my book club, which is really just a pretense to get together once a month

- for the other first year teachers who hang out

- for the members of my Turkish class who make it fun

- for the folks back home who remember me from time to time with a surprise email

- for my dad who answers endless email tech questions since he can't just come over and fix it

- for the beast who is good enough just by being orange

- for my grandparents who make me smile and haven't given up on technology

- for my health and sanity

- for a refidgerator full of food

- for a radiator that ticks, but keeps me warm

- for the rides up and occasionally down the hill

- for the challenges that keep life interesting and the perspective to see them that way