I don’t know why, but this year I am very much missing Thanksgiving. It may be because of the recent challenges my family has experienced, like the passing of my grandfather, my aunt’s cancer treatment, I really don’t know. Sure, the family bit is important, and I would like nothing more than to be able to give a hug or two to my parents and grandmother. Yeah, I would certainly enjoy the full turkey dinner and an afternoon of a bit of groaning (“I ate too much. Again.”), dozing in the living room, watching whatever game happens to be on. And the night before Thanksgiving….ah, a nice evening catching up with everyone that still might attend (or get a free pass to attend) the Old Monk Happy Hour, assuming that this tradition lives on in some fashion.
At any rate, I have said my piece: to those of you stateside, enjoy the Thanksgiving holiday, please. White meat for me, with extra cranberry and stuffing on the side.
Though I do tend to enjoy this time of year, regardless of where I happen to be, I am still stunned by how quickly the holiday decorations come out. I know that other countries tend to start getting into Christmas gear (ie…shop til you drop, no matter how shitty your economy happens to be) as early as possible, but I actually like the fact that things don’t really take off until late November in Germany. The German Christmas markets open up this weekend, running through until just before Christmas, and some shops have had their Advent Calendars on sale for the past few weeks, but there has not been a whole lot of visible decoration otherwise, until the last couple of days.
As I walked to the U-Bahn early yesterday morning, I noticed the white lights that get put up in my neighborhood. Today at work, the workmen came to put up the tree in the lobby of my office building.
Last year, I had the month of November and December off, and took a bit more time to enjoy the scene. I am glad I did, because this year, I am running around like a, erm, turkey with its head cut off. Twice in the past week I momentarily forgot which country I was in, which is sort of humorous, in a frequent flyer kind of way.
The constant activity keeps me from getting too bogged down with things that I can’t control but still tend to think too much about. On one hand, that is a positive. On the other, it is a bit nerve wracking, because I do not always have time to catch my breath.
Fortunately, my body does tell me when things need to slow down, and I tend to pay heed. OK, once or twice I misread the signals, but I do not actually believe that I can credibly use the excuse, “I accidentally had 5 shots of Jägermeister last night,” or “Whoops, I stayed at a party too late.”
That does not mean that I did not try, mind you.
So, I am off to enjoy my Thanksgiving Eve by watching a little Champions League football, and will hope not to have to “accidentally” have a Jäger or two (geez, will I be growing up anytime soon?)
As I mentioned above, please enjoy your Thanksgiving holiday. And another portion of stuffing and cranberry, please. OK, go on, a bit more turkey and a couple of rolls , too.
keep the faith
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