In which I give thanks

So Thanksgiving recently came and went, mainly unnoticed here in France-land. I celebrated it anyway, though more in a quiet introspective manner. In truth, living this totally new and foreign (haha) experience of studying abroad makes me realize how many things I have to be thankful for, starting with my family. We got to chat for a while on Thursday, and it made me laugh to see that we have the same dynamic even when we're thousands of miles apart. I'm thankful that I have never known what it was to hate your family, and that I have always known that they will always love and support me. I'm thankful for the opportunities my parents have always tried to provide for me, like the opportunity to go on this trip and get a unique chance to see myself and my country from a whole new perspective and find out what I really know about them. I've turned a lot of ideas I had about myself inside out over here, and I am thankful for that too. Of course, I can't think about family without thinking about my friends too, ones I've lost touch with and ones I see all the time, people who I can be completely and utterly myself around, who I can joke with, who know me maybe better than I do.

I am also thankful for new friends who I'm still getting to know, which I thought about particularly at the Thanksgiving feast several of us attended on Friday put on by the Seattle-Nantes-Jacksonville Association. I never expected when I left for Nantes that I would become such close friends with anyone in the short time we were here, and I am so thankful that I have!

I suppose I should give a little description of the dinner, too, as it was an interesting take on a holiday that we don't think much about normally. We got to the high school where it was being held, which I think must be some kind of technical school, and discovered we were almost an hour early (Mistake in the invitation, or purposefully done to make sure we were on time? We will never know...) The dinner was served, not banquet or family-style, as is usually the case at home, but in courses by servers from the school. We started off with rolls and little appetizer things that I don't really know what they were, and then we had a salad served with, surprise, smoked salmon! Can't say I've ever had that on Thanksgiving before. The main entrée consisted of turkey stuffed with paté, roasted chestnuts on the side, and, instead of mashed potatoes, something kind of like really fancy hash browns with mushrooms and lardons. And, what was even better, for dessert there was pumpkin pie!! It wasn't like the dinner at home, of course, but they made a decent effort, and I enjoyed everything I ate except the salmon. One taste was enough, and I had to have someone else finish it for me (but that's just because I don't like smoked salmon :) ). We also listened to some "live music" during the meal, which ended up being a guy with a guitar singing two or three songs, one of which was Hotel California. Another incident of note was actually when we were riding the tram back, when part of our group was suddenly accosted by two drunk French girls singing some unrecognizable song and trying to get us to sing it with them, and then switching to "In the Jungle" from Lion King, and stealing the squash Michael had taken from the dinner and proceeding to start an impromptu bowling/soccer game with it through the tram, culminating in one of them inadvertently kicking it straight at Sterling's shin. I was almost exploding from trying not to laugh too loud.

Well, at any rate, what I really want to say with this is thank you to everyone here and back home, and I'm so glad that you are in my life. And to those at home, I can't wait to share more of my experiences with you when I get back!

Love, Lauren