Another Very International Thanksgiving

I celebrated Thanksgiving this year with:

• 4 English
• 5 French
• 1 Ukranian
• 1 Spaniard
• 1 Italian
• 1 Australian
• + me and Jane, the American girls

I took a half day off work to make turkey, mashed potatoes, brussel sprouts, stuffing, green beans, butternut squash casserole, carrots, cranberry sauce, sweet potato casserole and apple pie.

My homemade apple pie

Authentic decorations from my Aunt Marlene

 

 

What She Learned

I mentioned in my previous post that a friend came to visit me last month. As it was her first time to England and to Europe in general, I had the chance to see it all for the first time from a fresh pair of eyes. After being here for a year and half those things that were different no longer phase me and sometimes I forget that something would be uncommon for an American.

We had many moments where I found myself saying... "Oh, yeah I forgot to tell you that.... "

In no particular order - the things she learned:

1. Plug outlets have switches, you have to turn them on
2. Eggs are left out on the counter, everywhere in the world except USA
3. Hold on to your tube ticket, you need it to get out on the other end
4. Europeans didn't like George W. Bush
5. Mayonnaise comes on everything
6.  When given directions - turn left and then another left - this is literally the first place possible to turn left, even if its an alley... and not the next "city block"
7. Nobody talks about distances in terms of blocks
8. Bright clothing is not popular in winter
9. You have to ask for sandwiches specifically without butter on the bread
10. Nobody wears fleeces as everyday winter outerwear
11. Look right - better yet, look both ways - cars come out of nowhere
12. You have to pay to use the bathroom in public places
13. Say you want tap water, not still, otherwise you pay for it
14. If you don't love Harry Potter, you're apparently not American
15. Short skirts or jean shorts with tights are all the rage. Doesn't matter what size you are.
16. Gas costs twice as much as in the U.S.
17. Nobody talks about their feelings
18. Tax is always included in the price tag

I'll be back

Dear loyal blog followers,

I'll be back. I haven't forgotten.

November was a crazy month of business and personal travel taking me to Stockholm, Brussels, Dublin, Paris and Madrid in about 4 weeks.

Its not as glamorous as it sounds though. Lots of airports, conference rooms, hotels, planes, trains, buses, passport control lines and early morning wake ups at ungodly hours.

During the month of craziness I did have some down time and my highschool friend Susie came to visit.  We did some London touring and headed to Dublin for the weekend. Guinness just tastes better in Ireland. Fact.

Guiness Factory, Dublin, November 2012