Thanksgiving

On Thursday, I am cooking a turkey. I have never cooked a turkey. I have never cooked any type of meat that still has bones in it. I can do chicken breasts; I can do fish, but can I do turkey? I guess that we'll find out...

I can't decide if I am excited for Thanksgiving or not. On one hand, I am excited to cook a whole bunch of food for people that aren't just me. I don't get to do this often (a.k.a. never). Cooking for one person is boring, so I eat a lot of eggs and yogurt and toast and soup from cans, and when I have money, I eat chicken. Because it's depressing to make some super-good dish that you're really excited about because it's so good and then have to eat it all by yourself. So I'm excited to cook. It will also give me something to do for the next two days, since I have now written all four of my essays (that was my homework for the entire semester. Write four essays. That's it. Now I'm done, and I don't know what to do with myself).

On the other hand, the thought of Thanksgiving kind of makes me want to get into my bed, curl into fetal position and eat a giant bar of dark chocolate while watching "Sex and the City- The Movie." This is a tempting, tempting option. I really just don't want to think about the fact that I am not at home during a major holiday; I don't want to think about the fact that I am thousands of miles away and trying to make a holiday happen all by myself. It overwhelms me and sort of makes me want to cry.

That is why I have invited a random assortment of French and German international students, plus my flatmates (and some of their friends?) over for a traditional, American Thanksgiving. I will not be pathetic and sad on a holiday. No, no, no. As much as I want to be pathetic and sad, I will not be. Instead, I will go out and buy sweet potatoes and canned pumpkin puree, and yes, even a turkey (if I can find one. They have to sell them somewhere, even in Northern Ireland. It's not that behind the times), and I will make Thanksgiving. And hopefully, the turkey will be fully cooked, since I have no meat thermometer. And hopefully, the random assortment of people will mix well and be friends. And hopefully, I'll be busy enough that I won't be sad, and it will be a fun day that I'll look back on and think, "I'm glad that I made Thanksgiving all by myself."