Happy Thanksgiving!

So once in every year we throng

Upon a day apart,

To praise the Lord with feast and song

In thankfulness of heart.

~Arthur Guiterman, The First Thanksgiving

I never realized that Thanksgiving wasn't a worldwide observed holiday. I guess if I had thought about it I would have come to the conclusion, but it is such a great holiday that I assumed everyone would want to partake in the overeating of turkey, stuffing, mashed potatoes and my beloved cranberry sauce!

Today is not Thanksgiving, at least, not for me. I'm not bitter or saddened, because Thanksgiving Day does not exist in England. It's almost  as if I don't know what I'm missing. Yet, I do!

I thought I'd take this opportunity (which has dual purpose as paper-writing procrastination) to say a few things I'm thankful for:

• That I have lived in countries (I like saying that!) where I can practice my faith freely and be a strong, independent woman (or at least, try to be).
• My family. I won't list everyone here, but know that I am thankful for all of my family, those who I parted with a few months ago, and those who I haven't seen in years.
• My friends. I couldn't survive away from home (or sometimes, even at home) without them. The line between family and friends is a blurred one, and I'm thankful for that.
• That even though it's frowned upon, a preposition is something I can end my sentence with.
• The blessings I have. I only hope I can use them in the way God wills.
• Everyone who reads my blogs. It makes my words important and gives what I say meaning.
• Jane Austen. She makes me laugh constantly and her writing is a true blessing.
• The internet, because I can keep in contact with everyone and access information as the slightest of ease.
• Opinions (even wrong ones ;) )
• Music. Every human emotion can be triggered or satiated with it.
• Thanksgiving. Because when else can you watch the GREATEST parade on earth, avoid helping to prepare food, overeat to the point of sickness, watch men attack each other for fun (American football), and then fall asleep by 6pm? If this isn't the American Dream, I don't know what is!

So, thank you for reading my blog and keeping up with my happenings in Oxford. I am thankful for my readers and subscribers and that I am cared about enough to take a few minutes out of your day to read of my rants/adventures/crazy thoughts.

I'll be home in 16 days, and while I 'should' be sad about leaving glorious England, I'm more than excited to be home and see everyone and for what is surely to be an amazing Spring semester.

HAPPY THANKSGIVING!

Oh, the Queen was in Oxford today and I saw her motorcade =)

My visit is complete!

Location: England, Age: 21

     It was pretty fun having my birthday in England, although it wasn't the same as if I had been back home with friends and family. I woke up unnaturally early and had breakfast with a few of my close friends at a cafe in town. There's not much that can beat scrambled eggs and toast in the morning! At the cafe, I saw Anna Popplewell, who is most famously known for her role as Susan in the Chronicles of Narnia movie, which my nephew Liam thought was pretty awesome.

     Then I went to the city centre small building of the program that organizes my studies in Oxford and just hung out for a while. I took a nap while waiting for one of my friends, Dabney, who I was going to go food shopping with. I decided to miss my lecture in order to get everything done, and then Dabney and I went to the infamous 'Primark' store and tried on some dresses. Primark is hard to describe, but I guess it would be close to a 'Marshalls' back in the States. I only ended up buying footwarmers, but it was a lot of fun. They have some crazy styles in England!

The main part of my outting was to buy the food that I needed to cook my birthday dinner. I had decided much earlier in the semester that I wanted to cook for my food group on my birthday- that way I'd get to eat my favorite food on my birthday! Food groups are about 10 people and there are two per day. Every person cooks at least twice during the semester per day they sign up for. For my birthday we combined food groups and were making...*drumroll*

Chicken and Spaghetti! It's a famous Weller staple and, while I had never made it before, I figured...how hard can it be?

Well, it's not too hard, but it helps to know that 2.2 lbs are in a kg, and not the other way around. I bought 6 kg of pasta, somehow thinking that it was only 3 lbs. Needless to say, I have 8 pounds of spaghetti left on my kitchen shelf!

A Pre-Advent Epiphany...

     I hope the following doesn't sound to saintly. I wrote it while I was in Starbucks today on a whim. Before today I would see people milling about the street with their opinions and cynicism and all I saw was disconnect. And disconnect begets despair, and even worse, complacency. Everyone with their selfishness and judgements and no hope. Sinful. Forever. 

     But then I realized, we are all connected- by God and by our humanity. Not one of us is unloved. We all have hope and somewhere, deep inside, we have faith.

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     There isn't too much better in the world than the approach of the winter holidays. Something about Christmas carols coming on the radio at Starbucks while I sip on my mocha and work on reading Northanger Abbey produces the most relaxing and comforting of feelings.

     There isn't snow and there won't be a Thanksgiving like it should be, but Oxford is in preparation for Christmas is outstandingly special. I've seen better decorations and more festive storefronts, but I was never part of a city's holiday festivity, only an observer. I have no vested interest in the lights in Washington Park, or the Schenectady Christmas parade, or Proctor's annual production of the Nutcracker; Rotterdam does little to prepare, mostly because the cows and barn cats don't care much for the blinking lights.

     Yet this year, for a few weeks, I'm part of the festival. My inner excitement regarding the celebrations of family, friends, the birth of Christ and the chance for new opportunities seem like it's playing itself out on the streets of Oxford- a brass choir playing carols on Cornmarket Street, seeming miles of Christmas displays at Marks & Spencers, advent calendars bracing the walls at Blackwells, and holiday themed beverages at the cafes. 

     All this to say that for the first time in longer than I can remember I truly feel that there is hope for our world. I've always believed it, but I never remember really feeling it. People are good at heart and it is our duty, not just as Christians, but as humanity to love one another and help to bring out the love, compassion, and hope in all that we meet.

We are not a lost people. We have hope.

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Upcoming: Posts on my birthday and my weekend in Rome and the Vatican City!