Thankgiving wrapup

I don't know what I was thinking when I decided to invite 12 people over to my not-so-big apartment for Thanksgiving. Perhaps I was trying to introduce a holiday that is the least commercial in America and thus less well-known in Japan. When Nathan and I told the story about the Pilgrims and Indians having the first Thanksgiving the teacher asked us if it was real. So it wasn't exactly as hunky-dory as the story we read made it out to be but anything more complex is beyond a second-grader's grasp of the English language, but that doesn't mean the first Thanksgiving wasn't real. So thus I set out to educate the small portion of the population that lives in Tahara and whom I spend my time with about the excellent tradition of eating more than you should and reflecting on the things that are good in our lives like friends, family, and turkey.

Of course it didn't turn out to be exactly all-American. We celebrated a few birthdays in addition to Thanksgiving and no one was too keen to say what they were thankful for. But we had a turkey...albeit a very tiny baby turkey so it would fit in my small oven. We also had mashed potatoes and gravy, green beans, stuffing, and even deviled eggs. There was also lots and lots of sushi and fried octopus balls and even some guacamole. Because nothing says Happy Thanksgiving like some tako-yaki.


Marie makes tako yaki while Nagata-san looks on.

I even managed to impress Nathan with my turkey cooking skills. My Japanese friends said it was good, but they are known to be very polite and none of them had ever had turkey before. However, I figured if I could make the Americans happy then I had done an alright job. I was so nervous, considering it was my first, it was only slightly bigger than a chicken and my oven isn't exactly known for being very precise. I still haven't managed to successfully bake in the damned thing.


My turkey!

We ate, drank, talked and played several rousing rounds of "chopsticks" (a card game that usually goes by the name of spoons except that I only have two.) Everyone went home with some food and Marie even managed to make off with my salt and pepper, which she returned a couple days later. A good time was had by all. I might even consider doing it again next year.


My apartment full of people and not everyone is even in this picture. We had a few latecomers.