Thanksgiving

Obviously I'm not American, and so Thanksgiving isn't a holiday I would normally celebrate, but I do have American friends in the UK (and in the US), and they take note of the event.

This year the holiday fell on 22nd November.  Jane and Paul usually have a big party with loads of food and people come for the evening, if not the whole night.  But since this weekend we have a bout, the party will be next weekend (December 1st), which I can't make as I'll actually be in the US!

So, since they were to be having a thanksgiving family meal, they very kindly invited me too.  It wasn't your usual blow out, just a nice roast dinner with family and two friends.  We ate and chatted about all kinds of things.  Jane's Mum is here for the winter so it was nice to talk to her, and we discussed the US elections (which I know little about), and Jane's daughters lack of application when it comes to her GCSE maths. 

Jane and Paul had also recently done the UK Citizenship test (passing with flying colours, which I would not!!) and so I spent an enjoyable half hour looking at the book you have to buy that has all the information to help you pass the test.  The most interesting fact I discovered about this country is that 'during the 6th century the king was, for a time, the legendary King Arthur' - well, who knew?

We finished the evening by watching US TV shows online and more chatting - I like thanksgiving, it doesn't seem as commercial as Christmas (which will not be really picking up speed in the States since Thanksgiving is out of the way) it's more about family and friends - as Christmas used to be?