Delius Diaries

I have mentioned the NATO International Club in previous posts. During the wine tour, I overheard several ladies ask about “the American Thanksgiving”…what is this Thanksgiving? What do you do? What happens and what do you eat, etc. So it gave me an idea to host a Thanksgiving lunch for NIC ladies. And today (Wednesday November 26) was the day!

But first, yesterday was the monthly NIC coffee. This month the American members were asked to host a presentation on the “American Thanksgiving” for 60+ members. Four Americans (2 from Georgia, 1 from Memphis and 1 from Puerto Rico) made a few dishes and we talked about our own personal Thanksgiving experiences. It was fun, although I must say I had a twinge of homesickness. We shared photos and stories from our own childhood as well as what Thanksgiving is like now that we are the adults and have children. As you can imagine, each of us have our own traditions and favorite foods. Our international friends were intrigued by how different each of our stories were. We ended the coffee with treats and other Thanksgiving delights we each made to share.

Today was the luncheon at our Brussels home, for 23! It took 3 turkeys, that I acquired at the Army commissary 90 minutes from Brussels, along with creatively securing 12 cans of pumpkin (not sold in Brussels grocery stores except at the British market). Why 12? That’s all I could find and because I will need at least that many for the month of December. I will not be denied pumpkin bread and pumpkin pie! And Connor may have a serious breakdown if one or the other is not at the ready. The 12 can acquisition was a mom win!

Back to the luncheon details…there was local drama which had the potential to cause disruption. In Belgium, the locals love to go on strike. It happens all the time. This week Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday was a local transportation and school strike, which meant no subway, train, tram or buses were running. We live outside of Brussels city so that makes travel logistics a challenge since not everyone has a car. I didn’t know what to expect the day of, would we have lots of cancels? Would everyone be late causing us to eat dry turkey? Fortunately between carpooling, bikes, scooters and walking, everyone attended and everyone was early!

We started with hot apple cider which warmed everyone up on a chilly 37 degree day, along with a light appetizer. Upon arrival everyone placed a pin on a map noting which country they are from, see photo. I gave a few instructions on the buffet (gravy vs salad dressing, butter, etc.), encouraged everyone to try a bite of everything and I said a blessing. The main question from everyone was about eating sweet and savory items at the same time, most Europeans don’t mix sweet with savory. They were very surprised with the sweet potato casserole, cranberry jelly and cranberry and pumpkin breads along side the turkey, mashed potatoes, corn soufflé, stuffing and green beans. And while surprised with the notion of having both sweet and savory foods on the same plate, once they tried it all, they loved it! Most went back for seconds. After dessert was served, I asked everyone to say what they were thankful for, without saying the obligatory “I am grateful for my family” type comment. One member said she was thankful for the today’s sunny blue sky, which is rare here this time of year. That in contrast to another member saying she was grateful for Brussels weather because where she is from in Norway there is snow and ice every day for 6-months of the year. Everyone laughed at that because most people at this point in the year here in Brussels are beginning to complain about the rainy Brussels weather. We laughed and realized how much we all have in common even though we hail from very different parts of the world. We are transplants and have all gone through the stage I am at in our family adventure, which is living in a foreign country away from the life you love is not easy. Homesickness is real.

Here is the blessing from today’s Thanksgiving lunch I gave. We stood in a big circle and held hands, 22 ladies representing 15 countries, united giving Thanks. “Gracious God, we thank you for the joy of friendship and for bringing us together for this special Thanksgiving. We are grateful for the food that nourishes our bodies and for the fellowship of friends that nourishes our souls. Bless our friends and families here in Brussels and abroad. Help us to be ever mindful of those in need and to use the strength you give us to serve others. Amen”

While Scott was away for the day and into a very late night, Connor and I had yummy Thanksgiving luncheon leftovers with our friend Julian, a 19-year old from home living in Brussels, living his best life as a professional footballer (soccer player). He is living his dream playing football professionally. Such a great role model for Connor to see what hard work and dedication leads to. We talked about life abroad and life at home. I think it made us all happy to share our unique situation. Or at least it made me happy!

Scott returned home very late, we are all happy to be together to share this different Thanksgiving. We had planned to leave early in the morning for 4-days of Christmas markets. But we decided to spend Thanksgiving in our Brussels home, eating a great Thanksgving meal and gettig a Christmas tree. Tomorrow we head out to Christmas markets in Germany. Will share our market escapades next week.

Happy Thanksgiving!!!! We love and miss y’all!