Yesterday morning as I was brushing my teeth, I tried to remember what I did last year for Thanksgiving.
After about 20 seconds, I remembered -- I was in Paris!
In keeping with that tradition, this year I had my fourth Thanksgiving celebration as an expat. And as a special treat, French television station France 3 visited the American University of Paris (AUP) to speak to some American students about the importance of celebrating Thanksgiving while living abroad.
I had the opportunity to sit down with France 3 and briefly discuss why it's so important for those of us spending the holidays away from our friends and family to celebrate this American tradition of football, family and food.
I highly recommend watching the entire segment, which includes interviews with AUP President Celeste Schenck and SGA President Sam Yehya.
But if you're in a hurry, don't understand French, or are only visiting this blog because you're related to me, feel free to skip to minute 1:40 to check out my short interview.
A link to the segment on the France 3 website can also be found here.
After about 20 seconds, I remembered -- I was in Paris!
In keeping with that tradition, this year I had my fourth Thanksgiving celebration as an expat. And as a special treat, French television station France 3 visited the American University of Paris (AUP) to speak to some American students about the importance of celebrating Thanksgiving while living abroad.
I had the opportunity to sit down with France 3 and briefly discuss why it's so important for those of us spending the holidays away from our friends and family to celebrate this American tradition of football, family and food.
I highly recommend watching the entire segment, which includes interviews with AUP President Celeste Schenck and SGA President Sam Yehya.
But if you're in a hurry, don't understand French, or are only visiting this blog because you're related to me, feel free to skip to minute 1:40 to check out my short interview.
A link to the segment on the France 3 website can also be found here.
This interview forced me to reflect on the importance of celebrating something so typically American while living in France.
In general, Thanksgiving has never been that important of a holiday for me.
Maybe it's because I've always had a small family, or because no one in my immediate family ever ate meat, so that whole turkey thing wasn't a big deal for us (although I always make sure to bring back a few slices for my deprived dogs to enjoy.)
In general, Thanksgiving has never been that important of a holiday for me.
Maybe it's because I've always had a small family, or because no one in my immediate family ever ate meat, so that whole turkey thing wasn't a big deal for us (although I always make sure to bring back a few slices for my deprived dogs to enjoy.)
www.france-amerique.com
And as I said before, this wasn't my first time celebrating Thanksgiving abroad.
Back in 2005, I spent Thanksgiving in Paris at Blue Elephant, a fancy thai restaurant in central Paris with some fellow study abroad students, and then had a second (all-vegetarian) celebration in Sheffield, England that weekend. In 2007, I had fondue with my French friend in Montpellier, France.
Last year a dear friend of mine from the U.K. hosted a fabulous Thanksgiving meal for myself and my friend while we were on vacation in Paris . A Brit dishing up a vegetarian-friendly Thanksgiving? It doesn't get much more impressive than that!
As much as I love spending the holidays with my family and friends back home, I've found that Thanksgiving becomes more important to me when I'm on the other side of the Atlantic.
I also get so much enjoyment sharing this tradition with non-American friends of mine. After all, why should the rest of the world be deprived of the joys of pumpkin pie?
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