Thanksgiving in the UK
It's official. I have now spent my first Thanksgiving apart from my family.
About three weeks ago I received an invitation in my pigeon hole (Oxford for mailbox) to the Magdalen president's home for a Thanksgiving Day Feast. How nice is that? It also specifically said that we were allowed to keep our mobile phones on in case our families wanted to ring us, or we could have our families ring us at the president's private number.
The president's lodgings at Magdalen are exquisite. The college is quite wealthy and the most obvious example of this is the president's home. It has a set of tapestries that were a wedding gift to Catherine of Aragon. I walked through the door and before the president had the chance to greet me, he handed me a goblet of mulled wine. I think my family should start drinking mulled wine at Thanksgiving. Before dinner, we nibbled on cornbread. I have found that cornbread is a completely foreign concept in the UK, so it's presence tonight was a testament to the overall thoughtfulness of the organizers.
Dinner itself was fantastic. The turkey was perfect, the stuffing was just like home and the cranberry sauce was homemade. I usually end up mixing my whole plate of turkey, mashed potatoes, green beans, corn, stuffing and gravy together and tonight was no exception. I was the first person at my table to go for seconds! I didn't actually sit at the main dining table, but with some grad students at what at home would have been considered the kiddy table. It was great fun and great conversation.
Dessert. There was discussion before they brought it out if they would go for pumpkin or pecan pie. They went for both! And, fresh whipped cream and coffee. (Mom, I put the whipped cream in my coffee!)
As we were leaving, the president and his wife asked us to please take bits and pieces of the centerpiece home. The centerpiece was composed entirely of cabbage, broccoli, oranges, apples, grapes, zucchinis, plums and other assorted market goods. It was absolutely hilarious to see us all walk away with heads of cabbage under our arms and grapes falling out of our hands.
I certainly have a lot to be thankful for.
About three weeks ago I received an invitation in my pigeon hole (Oxford for mailbox) to the Magdalen president's home for a Thanksgiving Day Feast. How nice is that? It also specifically said that we were allowed to keep our mobile phones on in case our families wanted to ring us, or we could have our families ring us at the president's private number.
The president's lodgings at Magdalen are exquisite. The college is quite wealthy and the most obvious example of this is the president's home. It has a set of tapestries that were a wedding gift to Catherine of Aragon. I walked through the door and before the president had the chance to greet me, he handed me a goblet of mulled wine. I think my family should start drinking mulled wine at Thanksgiving. Before dinner, we nibbled on cornbread. I have found that cornbread is a completely foreign concept in the UK, so it's presence tonight was a testament to the overall thoughtfulness of the organizers.
Dinner itself was fantastic. The turkey was perfect, the stuffing was just like home and the cranberry sauce was homemade. I usually end up mixing my whole plate of turkey, mashed potatoes, green beans, corn, stuffing and gravy together and tonight was no exception. I was the first person at my table to go for seconds! I didn't actually sit at the main dining table, but with some grad students at what at home would have been considered the kiddy table. It was great fun and great conversation.
Dessert. There was discussion before they brought it out if they would go for pumpkin or pecan pie. They went for both! And, fresh whipped cream and coffee. (Mom, I put the whipped cream in my coffee!)
As we were leaving, the president and his wife asked us to please take bits and pieces of the centerpiece home. The centerpiece was composed entirely of cabbage, broccoli, oranges, apples, grapes, zucchinis, plums and other assorted market goods. It was absolutely hilarious to see us all walk away with heads of cabbage under our arms and grapes falling out of our hands.
I certainly have a lot to be thankful for.
posted by Elin at 12:15 PM
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