The amount of American students studying abroad here in Edinburgh, Scotland is overwhelming. We almost seem to occupy an entire building in the student accommodations here in Bainfield. We feel more at home because of that. Of course, tonight we had to do a Thanksgiving thing to feel like we were not missing out on an American tradition. I think it is very funny that we all decided to do a Thanksgiving feast in Scotland. I think we have too much pride to be bringing in our traditions instead of adopting Scottish ones. In all honesty, I love the fact that we had a Thanksgiving dinner. We did invite some Scots to make ourselves feel better and not so isolated though. Having dinner tonight felt so good. We introduced our weird cooking to Scots and then pigged out exactly as we would back home.
With all of the Americans here, it still feels so far away from home. It has not even hit me yet that today is Thanksgiving. I have been in love with Scotland since the first moment I arrived here. I have tried to adopt the culture and accept it as my own. That is why it completely went straight over my head tonight. I was wondering why I was making pie and sweet potatoes. Nonetheless, I loved that I did it. I had one of our Scottish friends try my sweet potatoes casserole and he was surprised that marshmallows were on top of them. I guess that is only an American thing, which should be assumed since American food is usually fried or smothered in sugar some how.
I was glad that tonight happened. All of my family members asked what Thanksgiving was like in Scotland. Of course to Scots, it is just another mundane Thursday night. Many of them are asleep or during laundry. Class is not cancelled. In fact, I had an exam today. I really appreciated our makeshift Thanksgiving holiday though. We all pitched in and made some sort of dish. It turned out wonderful and although this is really cliché to say on a day like this, I am grateful I have some American buddies here that feel just as home sick as I do. I am grateful that I made friends, both Scottish and American who were able to indulge this weird concept of having a feast on a Thursday night.
