The Tale of Two Thanksgivings

When Phil and I commigted to spending the year in Prague, we anticipated many incredible things about living in Prague: the old beauty of St. Vitus across the river (a view we see almost every day), the newness (and challenges!) of a different culture and language, the vibrant city life of Prague, and the accessibility of so many amazing places to visit from our new home in Central Europe. While there were so many things we were excited about, but we never anticipated the best thing we've experienced living here: the incredible people we've met. Our Thanksgiving(s) highlighted this for us in a very special way. Being far (in distance) from our family and friends back in the States, we have been blessed to be able to celebrate with new friends in Prague. And we were lucky enough to celebrate it twice;)

On Thursday, November 22, we attended a Thanksgiving day extravaganza at the home of our new friends, Phil and Shanna. They are an incredible couple with two children (and one on the way!) who are missionaries here in the Czech Republic. They throw an annual Thanksgiving Day bash, and this year was no different. They had fifty adults, twenty children, four turkeys, truckloads of mashed potatoes, sweet potatoes and assorted casseroles, and six pumpkin pies. To say that they outdid themselves would be an understatement. And to really make it feel like Thanksgiving, the Lions vs. Packers game was on TV thanks to the magic of satellite cable. There were a few funny discussions between some Americans and British expats regarding American football vs. "real" football (i.e. soccer)! While the rest of the Czech Republic went on like any other Thursday, we were able to take a break (from my Czech classes and from Phil's research and writing) to share a wonderful day with new friends.



On Saturday, November 24, we helped organize our second Thanksgiving a.k.a. The Fulbright Thanksgiving Blowout. The director of the commission generously offered to host a sit down dinner for 25 people at her home. All the Americans had to do was come up with the meal...no problem! I quickly emailed a sign up sheet to all the Fulbrighters to organize what everyone would bring for dinner. (Yes, I'm really that organized on occasion.) The response was fantastic! We had every side dish you could think of...and now all that was left was to get the turkey. Phil and I were able to procured a 18 lb. turkey and two 4 lb chickens from a British butcher in Prague. I won't bore you with all the details of getting the birds, but just picture Phil on three different trams carrying them in an oversized Ikea bag. To complicate matters, we don't have an oven (welcome to our Euro flat and tiny kitchen!) so we spent Friday night roasting them at our friend Alice's place. Yes, we took photos with the bird...Phil named her Queen Zophie. Don't ask me why... (editor's note: Zophie was the queen of Bohemia during the 1410s and a real fan of Jan Hus. Obviously, that's why the turkey was named after her)



On Saturday afternoon, all of us and our assorted Thanksgiving offering made it to Hanka and Pavel's house, about 20 miles outside of Prague, via cars and trains. By the time we sat down for dinner, I was astounded again at the incredible meal we had put together! At the end of the day, we had to appreciate the new people we had found in Prague. If friends are the family you choose, we felt very thankful for our new Czech family. And while we can't wait to see everyone at home for Christmas and New Year's, we must admit that we never really missed Thanksgiving in the States - it felt like we were there.