I've decided what I miss most of all right now is the joy of the holidays. It always bothered me that Christmas items and songs flooded the stores before Halloween was over, but I think I'd rather have that than nothing. As the weather gets cold and dreary, and there are no Christmas lights, decorations or music, it is getting a little depressing.
So, in true International Spirit -- we had a Thanksgiving Party!
Since Thanksgiving is on a Thursday, we all worked as usual, but it was really nice that our colleagues from around the world wished all of us Americans a Happy Thanksgiving. We celebrated Thanksgiving on Saturday night -- and it was quite a celebration.
First, the turkey. A Kazakh friend (who has lived in the USA for about 15 years, sounds like she's from Los Angeles, and is an American citizen) was determined to get us a turkey. She had been planning on it since September. The Tuesday night before the party, she texts me that she has a line on 2 turkeys that the lady will kill and pluck for us. She's going to get them tomorrow.
Wednesday, I get the text, the turkeys have fallen through. The lady decided they were too small to kill. If she fattens them up, she can get more money for them.
So the search was on. Our friend drove all over Taraz looking for a turkey. The locals at school were giving us ideas of where to look, and we would send her there. We also had locals calling their friends and family looking for a turkey. I thought it would be OK to just get turkey parts, but the game was on. Thursday night I get a call that we have a turkey coming in from Almaty -- about a 6-7 hour drive away. She had called her cousin, who found a turkey and a driver to bring it out to Taraz! We had a 10kg turkey arrive by car on Friday.
It was worth the time, the search, and the tenge to have the whole turkey. A couple of us had thought ahead and brought sage, rosemary and thyme with us when we returned to Taraz after summer break -- so it really tasted like Thanksgiving!
It was an opportunity for we Americans to show what Thanksgiving is about. About 30 people showed up at my place -- including some out-of-towners from the NIS school in Shymkent. In all we had the 5 Americans, 2 Portuguese, a couple of Ugandans, a Frenchman, a couple of S. Africans, an Italian, an Indonesian, a couple of teachers from the Philippines, a number of Brits and a number of Kazakhs. I was thankful for each and every one of them!
Here are some pictures, courtesy of Rhonda:
So, in true International Spirit -- we had a Thanksgiving Party!
Since Thanksgiving is on a Thursday, we all worked as usual, but it was really nice that our colleagues from around the world wished all of us Americans a Happy Thanksgiving. We celebrated Thanksgiving on Saturday night -- and it was quite a celebration.
First, the turkey. A Kazakh friend (who has lived in the USA for about 15 years, sounds like she's from Los Angeles, and is an American citizen) was determined to get us a turkey. She had been planning on it since September. The Tuesday night before the party, she texts me that she has a line on 2 turkeys that the lady will kill and pluck for us. She's going to get them tomorrow.
Wednesday, I get the text, the turkeys have fallen through. The lady decided they were too small to kill. If she fattens them up, she can get more money for them.
So the search was on. Our friend drove all over Taraz looking for a turkey. The locals at school were giving us ideas of where to look, and we would send her there. We also had locals calling their friends and family looking for a turkey. I thought it would be OK to just get turkey parts, but the game was on. Thursday night I get a call that we have a turkey coming in from Almaty -- about a 6-7 hour drive away. She had called her cousin, who found a turkey and a driver to bring it out to Taraz! We had a 10kg turkey arrive by car on Friday.
It was worth the time, the search, and the tenge to have the whole turkey. A couple of us had thought ahead and brought sage, rosemary and thyme with us when we returned to Taraz after summer break -- so it really tasted like Thanksgiving!
It was an opportunity for we Americans to show what Thanksgiving is about. About 30 people showed up at my place -- including some out-of-towners from the NIS school in Shymkent. In all we had the 5 Americans, 2 Portuguese, a couple of Ugandans, a Frenchman, a couple of S. Africans, an Italian, an Indonesian, a couple of teachers from the Philippines, a number of Brits and a number of Kazakhs. I was thankful for each and every one of them!
Here are some pictures, courtesy of Rhonda:
Sounds like you are having a great experience, Sue.
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