Is is homesickness or just Tete in November?
I think I'm homesick. Tete in November is enough to drive anyone to dreams of leaving. It isn't the heat and the paperwork and the monotony of life in the hot season. It's different, I think. What do you do when you are far from home in the most family-centered season of the American calendar? It isn't here yet, but it is coming fast. Thanksgiving to Christmas is a tough time for missionaries and others overseas. I think it is worse for Americans. I'll tell you why.
WE have THANKSGIVING! It is really the most American of all holidays, I think. More than the 4th of July for some of us. Sure, we have traditions on Independence Day, but not like the traditions on Thanksgiving! You can celebrate the 4th with friends on the beach. You can celebrate with strangers. You can eat almost anything or nothing and it doesn't matter. You want the Star Spangled Banner and Fireworks, but it's nothing to call home about.On Thanksgiving, you WILL call Mom... and you will miss her pumpkin pie and the RIGHT kind of stuffing if you aren't home!
If you want a really important American celebration, look at the 4th Thursday in November. We can't even give it a date. It has to be Thursday so you get a long weekend to recover from the feast! There are specific foods you SHOULD have on Thanksgiving. Turkey is a real celebration food designed to feed a whole crowd! 20lbs of poultry roasting for hours in the oven, stuffed with your family's favorite stuffing recipe. Ok, the stuffing varies greatly around the country, but it is stuffing a big noble bird that counts. We all know that sweet potatoes are supposed to be there whether we like them or not. Cranberries in sauce or salad are part of the expectation. Salads and veggies vary, but usually corn of some kind finds a place on the table. Pumpkin pie... outsiders don't understand the appeal of baking a vegetable for desert, but it is so good with cozy spices, flaky pastry and the custardy filling.
Thinking of these things warms my heart and brings a tear to the eye. Tete is so NOT Thanksgiving-able. I'm still thankful, but keeping traditions is tough for this holiday! First of all, no family. I've accepted it whether I like it or not. I won't get there and they won't get here. Too bad. I can find a turkey... it might be tough and imported form Brazil, but it will be a big bird. I can make Mom's stuffing pretty well, too. Grandma showed me! I can get canned corn. Cranberries you just have to forget. I can also use a butternut to make a pie, but the one thing that really gets tough is the HOURS in the oven! When the temperature is already about 100F, how do you stay in the kitchen for 5 hours preparing all the goodies without melting?
On the 4th of July, we are proud to be Americans. On Thanksgiving, we are THANKFUL to be Americans. We remember that we could be something else. We could have a king and speak "british" English, heaven forbid! We'd be spelling words funny and drinking HOT tea with milk! We might even have to teach our children Cricket... where the game is so long you have to stop for tea! HOT tea! We are thankful for our families and we remember that we need each other. How can you eat all that Turkey alone? We are thankful that God let us be born free to follow our dreams no matter where we come from. If we work hard, we can do it. That is the real American dream... hard work will get you somewhere. You can choose and you can try.
So, without family to share my turkey dinner and without Americans to share my dreams, I feel a little homesick. If I get air-conditioning installed before the 4th Thursday, I'll try for the whole she-bang! Might have to do it on Friday though. We don't get Thursday off. I know a couple of Americans I can invite for dinner and throw in a few others as well. But, what about after the meal... who will wash the dishes with me? And what about football? There isn't a football game on here!
Last year I tried to have a Thanksgiving party. I baked pies and asked people to bring cakes or deserts of their own. I invited Americans and some families with kids. Everyone came and dropped off their kids and left! Jon Vuvu* was there, an Oregonian who appreciated my pies. He was put in charge of getting the kids to play baseball! Of course, they didn't know how. We had only one glove and finally borrowed a bat. The outfielders kept wandering off since there wasn't anything to do! The batters didn't want to take turns. Finally, Chris and Katie came and helped with the baseball. It was difficult to keep going! But it was nice to be together and eat pie with thankfulness. It is a happy memory even if it didn't work out as planned.
I think that about sums up any tradition you try to keep while you wander the world. You can make a happy memory, but it probably will be different than planned. So I guess the secret to fighting the homesickness is to be thankful for the happy memories we are making along the way. Look for the traditions we are building here with our kids. Accept the changes and remember, change is good. That's why we are here. We are working for positive change. We can have a dream and we can try... we can act like Americans and be thankful that we are free to choose... to be here.
WE have THANKSGIVING! It is really the most American of all holidays, I think. More than the 4th of July for some of us. Sure, we have traditions on Independence Day, but not like the traditions on Thanksgiving! You can celebrate the 4th with friends on the beach. You can celebrate with strangers. You can eat almost anything or nothing and it doesn't matter. You want the Star Spangled Banner and Fireworks, but it's nothing to call home about.On Thanksgiving, you WILL call Mom... and you will miss her pumpkin pie and the RIGHT kind of stuffing if you aren't home!
If you want a really important American celebration, look at the 4th Thursday in November. We can't even give it a date. It has to be Thursday so you get a long weekend to recover from the feast! There are specific foods you SHOULD have on Thanksgiving. Turkey is a real celebration food designed to feed a whole crowd! 20lbs of poultry roasting for hours in the oven, stuffed with your family's favorite stuffing recipe. Ok, the stuffing varies greatly around the country, but it is stuffing a big noble bird that counts. We all know that sweet potatoes are supposed to be there whether we like them or not. Cranberries in sauce or salad are part of the expectation. Salads and veggies vary, but usually corn of some kind finds a place on the table. Pumpkin pie... outsiders don't understand the appeal of baking a vegetable for desert, but it is so good with cozy spices, flaky pastry and the custardy filling.
Thinking of these things warms my heart and brings a tear to the eye. Tete is so NOT Thanksgiving-able. I'm still thankful, but keeping traditions is tough for this holiday! First of all, no family. I've accepted it whether I like it or not. I won't get there and they won't get here. Too bad. I can find a turkey... it might be tough and imported form Brazil, but it will be a big bird. I can make Mom's stuffing pretty well, too. Grandma showed me! I can get canned corn. Cranberries you just have to forget. I can also use a butternut to make a pie, but the one thing that really gets tough is the HOURS in the oven! When the temperature is already about 100F, how do you stay in the kitchen for 5 hours preparing all the goodies without melting?
On the 4th of July, we are proud to be Americans. On Thanksgiving, we are THANKFUL to be Americans. We remember that we could be something else. We could have a king and speak "british" English, heaven forbid! We'd be spelling words funny and drinking HOT tea with milk! We might even have to teach our children Cricket... where the game is so long you have to stop for tea! HOT tea! We are thankful for our families and we remember that we need each other. How can you eat all that Turkey alone? We are thankful that God let us be born free to follow our dreams no matter where we come from. If we work hard, we can do it. That is the real American dream... hard work will get you somewhere. You can choose and you can try.
So, without family to share my turkey dinner and without Americans to share my dreams, I feel a little homesick. If I get air-conditioning installed before the 4th Thursday, I'll try for the whole she-bang! Might have to do it on Friday though. We don't get Thursday off. I know a couple of Americans I can invite for dinner and throw in a few others as well. But, what about after the meal... who will wash the dishes with me? And what about football? There isn't a football game on here!
Last year I tried to have a Thanksgiving party. I baked pies and asked people to bring cakes or deserts of their own. I invited Americans and some families with kids. Everyone came and dropped off their kids and left! Jon Vuvu* was there, an Oregonian who appreciated my pies. He was put in charge of getting the kids to play baseball! Of course, they didn't know how. We had only one glove and finally borrowed a bat. The outfielders kept wandering off since there wasn't anything to do! The batters didn't want to take turns. Finally, Chris and Katie came and helped with the baseball. It was difficult to keep going! But it was nice to be together and eat pie with thankfulness. It is a happy memory even if it didn't work out as planned.
I think that about sums up any tradition you try to keep while you wander the world. You can make a happy memory, but it probably will be different than planned. So I guess the secret to fighting the homesickness is to be thankful for the happy memories we are making along the way. Look for the traditions we are building here with our kids. Accept the changes and remember, change is good. That's why we are here. We are working for positive change. We can have a dream and we can try... we can act like Americans and be thankful that we are free to choose... to be here.
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