Hard Rock Cafe served a mediocre Thanksgiving Dinner.
This was my first Thanksgiving away from family! Actually, it was my first holiday away from family. It was doubly horrible because here in England no one celebrates Thanksgiving, no one cares about it at all! It would be one thing to spend Christmas here; at least then everyone would be in a united holiday spirit. But in the days leading up to Thanksgiving there was no shared anticipation, no building of joy, nothing. On the morning of Thanksgiving I didn’t crawl from the bed to the couch and curl up, still in my cozy pajamas, to watch the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade. Instead I woke up, dressed sensibly, and shivered my way into work where I spent the day actually working! I have never in my life worked on Thanksgiving! It felt so wrong. Please understand, I love my internship but as the hours ticked away I found my spirit sinking–how could I be working on such an important holiday?
The sad thing is, I never realized how much today meant to me until I was away from my family. I never realized how much I appreciated my cousins jokes, my aunts cooking, my dad and uncle’s teasing, and my mom’s calm presence. I never knew how important Thanksgiving was. It is the holiday that is truly about family. Christmas is just as much about gifts as spending time with each other, but Thanksgiving… Thanksgiving is all about being with those for whom you are grateful. I am grateful that I have people to miss at home and people who miss me.
My adoptive family for the holiday (Thanks again Nolans!).
I am also grateful for the Nolans. I spent Thanksgiving with my roommate, Ellie, and her family. I am so thankful that they let me into their family time and that I got to spend my first holiday away from home with people who are so welcoming and fun! I ate turkey, cranberry sauce, and cosmos! Despite having me work right until closing time I am also grateful for the people at my internship. My co-workers gave me Thanksgiving-day-gifts (how sweet) of chocolate and a fun little pin! I also had a chance to explain Thanksgiving to people who were genuinely interested, and ignorant, about the holiday (I did tell them normally no gifts were given). It was a fantastic British Thanksgiving! Oh, after dinner I got a chance to take some fun night photos. Yay!
Marble Arch
I love my neighborhood at night.
Colourful lights.
At the University 