Thanksgiving Entry

When the Christmas lights started going up because after Halloween, I wasn't surprised.  After all, even American stores begin Christmas sales on the first of November.  However, there always seems to be a collective recognition of the Thanksgiving buffer that happens at the end of the month, and everyone seems to genuinely take a break (even if it only lasts until the end of the pecan pie and the pathetic mobilization for Black Friday sales at midnight) for the beloved Thanksgiving holiday.  Not the case in Ireland.  There was no looking back the day the lights went up, and it was a little tough as an American to consider that while I had internally registered the November holiday, no one that I passed on the street or that spoke in my lectures or that sold me a sandwich would even consider stopping on November 26 to give thanks.

Of course, I was wrong.  I was surrounded by Americans in my program, and conscientious people that actually went out of their ways to make American students feel at home, and prepare some holiday activities.  In fact, I ended up having three Thanksgiving meals, and none of them were left-overs.  Even the grocery store had a little display of packet gravy, mix-with-water potatos, and canned cranberry sauce (none of which I ate, but appreciated nonetheless).

Thanksgiving was quite good this year.  Final papers are looming, however, and the blog might be running dry for a little bit.  Not to fear though, I will pick it up again when I start traveling!

For now, some Thanksgiving thoughts that came to me over the weekend:

Thanks to memories, for confusing the past
To small things, for meaning a lot
To the cold weather, for chilling our bodies and warming our hearts
To accidents, for leading me down unconsidered paths
To first impressions, for giving us something to change
To my family, for supporting me always
To the present, for never repeating itself
To my friends, for sharing experiences people dream of
To our differences, for creating borders to cross
To impulsiveness, for reminding me of the freedoms I have
To silence, for bringing peace to an anxious world
To noise, for breaking long-enough silence
To change, for urging us into the future.