Gobble gobble gobble...

Turkey Day!!!

Turkey is generally available as Christmas is right around the corner and even cranberry sauce (otherwise known as cranberry relish) can be found at your local grocery store. However, creating a feast for just you is not only expensive and time consuming, it’s also depressing. By this point, you have undoubtedly made friends at your university, whether they be of American persuasion or not, and most would be more than happy to have a reason to throw a party. Here’s their opportunity!  

My second year in Bristol, my Bahamian friend and I were both sad that we would not be spending Thanksgiving with our families. After our friends found out, they decided it would be great fun to host a Thanksgiving at the house they were sharing. We also decided to invite some other friends to join the celebration. I cooked turkey, my Bahamian friend roasted broccoli with cheese, another friend roasted parsnips and carrots, another cooked potatoes, one friend fried plantains and the last, but certainly not least, made filet mignon with mushrooms in a red wine reduction. Wow. After gorging ourselves for over an hour, we flopped down on my friend's queen size bed and told stories and sang silly songs and danced around the room. No, this wasn’t quite the typical Thanksgiving, but it was the most entertaining one I’ve ever had the pleasure to be a part of.  

There’s also the possibility, if you are lucky enough, that the Warden (that’s like a Resident Director) of the hall you are staying in decides to throw a feast in his/or her American students’ honor. This is precisely what occurred my first year in Bristol.  He took one of the formal Fridays (this is a weekly occurrence at Wills Hall in Bristol) and made it a Thanksgiving theme. The three Americans staying at the hall were the guests of honor and were asked to sit at the head table. What we didn't know until dinner was well under way, was that he had invited Chelsea Clinton, who was studying at Oxford at the time, to come  join us. She didn't.  But we had a very tasty meal all the same. They made us turkey and stuffing and all things Thanksgiving. It was a lovely gesture and we all appreciated it...especially since we didn’t have kitchens to create our own.  

I must admit that out of the two, the Thanksgiving with friends was the most enjoyable, but I appreciate the one given by my hall all the more because it was done out of the kindness of his heart. I'm sure Chelsea Clinton didn't factor into the equation at all! 

-S.