REALLY GOOD THINGS!

This is my excited voice:

OHMYGOSHYESTERDAYWASTHEFIRSTTIMEI'VEEVERSKYPEDMYFAMILY
ANDISAWALLTHEIRFACESANDITALKEDTOEVERYONEANDITWASAMAZING
BECAUSEIMISSTHEMALLANDISAWTHEIRSMILESINSTEADOFJUSTHEARINGTHEM
ANDTHEYAREWONDERFULANDIMISSTHEMALOT

ahem.

ANDIFOUNDOUTTHATHEATHERBOUGHTHERPLANETICKETTOCOMETOFRANCE
ANDSHEISCOMINGONSUNDAYMARCHSECOND,FLYINGINTOMARSEILLEANDSHEIS
STAYINGUNTILSATURDAYANDSHEISGOINGTOMEETEVERYONEANDITWILLBEAWESOME

And my Dad's going to send me Christmas music!
And I bought my plane tickets for my England Christmas!
And I'll be in Avignon for New Year's!
And my family knows how to Skype!
And I had this awesome cake at a cafe today!


And more good things...
Thanksgiving this year was a little weird - it doesn't feel like Thanksgiving time because I'm not getting time off from school, I'm not making the trajet from Ann Arbor to East Lansing, I'm not in a land of snow or (tremendous) cold, and I'm not around my fam. I missed out on Buffy marathons, I missed out on my yearly turnip consumption and I missed out on Pajama Day. But I made do and ended up having a really good Thanksgiving anyway!

The American assistants decided to have a lil' Thanksgiving of their own. Twelve of us got together at Celine's and rocked the hell out of Turkey Day, I kid you not. Amy and I spent the afternoon cooking stuffing (great recipe, Mom! it was a huge hit!) and a corn/pepper souffle (heaven in your mouth - good one, Amy!) and Nicole made to-die-for mashed potatoes. We hurried through the rain to Celine's and were greeted by pots and pots and pans and plates of food. It was an enormous spread. The twelve of us managed to put together a delicious meal - who knew we could all be such gourmet chefs? And I think we're all gourmands now, too! Turkey, stuffing, corn souffle, mashed potatoes, green beans, Serbia soup (we made Darija make it even though it is, in no way, a part of Thanksgiving), mashed sweet potatoes (Emily went out and found marshmallows - they exist here!), quiche, cookies (praise everything! They were off the HOOK), salads like whoa, apple crumble and ice cream, aaaaand six baguettes. Because you really can'th ave a meal here without a baguette. Good gravy it was all amazing.

I ate so much that I had a stomachache alllllll day on Friday. In fact, I might still be recovering.

But it was great - we ate, we drank wine, we played guitar and sang songs. It was homey and comfortable and it was really really nice to be in such good company. We're all missing home on varying levels and in different ways and I couldn't have asked for a better Thanksgiving Abroad than the one I had on Thursday.

I'd like to give another shoutout to all my postcard pen pals: Thanks, guys, for sending me all the postcards! I think I get at least two a week and it does wonders for my mood and ego - I'm feelin' pretty popular all up I here :) Haha, it's just really nice to have these things from home. I miss y'all.

I hope your Thanksgivings were awesome and family- and friends- and fun- and smiles-filled. I hope you're all preparing your stomachs for the holiday season. Don't forget the egg nog!

love,
emily




p.s. Saved by the Bell, Seasons 1 and 2 are sale on Amazon.com. Yeah buddy.