The fourth Thursday of November.
What's, of course, a very special day in the U.S. (one of my absolute favorites, in fact) is just another day here in New Zealand. Unless you spice it up with a little nutmeg and cinnamon yourself. :)
Since arriving in this country, we've had a non-stop parade of birthdays and holidays to celebrate. And since I LOVE birthdays and holidays and making regulars days special, it's been a bit stressful figuring out how to make our old traditions work here.
Thanksgiving was one holiday I really had to think about.
First of all, it's almost summer here. It's hot. It's sunny. The days are long. The only "fall" foliage we've seen this year are the red leaves on our Japanese maple tree. And they're not falling off :) It doesn't "feel" like a Thanksgiving kind of day. And that's just fine for our New Zealand friends and neighbors because, well, they don't celebrate Thanksgiving, of course.
It's also quite difficult -- and expensive -- to track down the Thanksgiving meal essentials. Frozen turkeys ring in at about $75. Canned pumpkin just doesn't exist, except in a few stores' international aisles. I tracked down a few cans of Libby's for $6.99 a pop. There's no StoveTop stuffing or canned cranberry sauce or Pillsbury crescent rolls, the essentials of a fancy American meal. So cooking means starting from scratch (which we tend to do anyway) and tracking down acceptable substitutes.
Because the meal planning was a bit on the tricky (and expensive) side, I focused instead on creating some new traditions that emphasized the gratitude part of the day. We hung a banner in our kitchen decorated with the names of people, places and things we're most thankful for. We made American-style biscuits (from scratch) and delivered them Thanksgiving morning to the families that have welcomed us here. We baked pumpkin pies to share with the girl's classmates (they hated it, ha!) and Shane's coworkers. And I sent the boy to school with candies and notes thanking his classmates for being his friend.
I really loved doing these activities. They focused our attention on other people and the gratitude we feel for the many good things in our lives. They also spread the Thanksgiving joy around a bit, teaching our New Zealand friends a more bit about the holiday. By the end of the day, half of the school was wishing us a Happy Thanksgiving. :)
And our day didn't end there. Shane managed to find an American-style restaurant serving an American-style Thanksgiving dinner Thursday night. We got reservations and went in with the lowest of expectations. Restaurants in New Zealand are not always that great. And it seemed unlikely they could pull off the most important of important American meals.
But they did -- and it was amazing. The food was spot on -- turkey, stuffing, mashed potatoes, green bean casserole, cranberry sauce, roasted vegetables, macaroni and cheese. SO good! We ate and ate until we were uncomfortably stuffed -- just like at home -- and then spent the rest of the night exploring our beautiful city.
It was such a good night and such a good day. New traditions were started, family was loved and gratitude felt.
And that's what Thanksgiving's all about. :)
