It's our first big holiday in a new country, and what an experience. Not only is Thanksgiving one of my family's favorites, but it's also one that they don't celebrate here, so put a whole different dimension and challenge to what is otherwise our traditions. Though we didn't celebrate with anyone outside our immediate, 4-person family, being 4100 miles away from family, friends, and those neighbors we say every day for the last ten years - that was different too. Not bad. Just ... different. The typical dishes I make, and have made for 20 years, tasted different here. Again, not really bad ... just different.  We went out after dinner to get dessert, and unlike the States where nearly everything is shut down, people were going on with their lives and everything was busy. Don't get me wrong, I expected that. But expecting and seeing are often two different things. And that's a huge part of not being in the country you've spent your entire life in. It's even part of the reason we came here - to experience a different culture. And sometimes that means that your own culture is out of place. 

Don't get me wrong. I've never really been one to think about culture or traditions in that way. My great-grandfather came from Poland, so that side of the family had traditional Polish meals sometimes, but other than that, my family didn't spend a lot of time focused on things like that. 

Does that mean today was horrible? 

No, not at all. 

Because for all the different, there were things that were very much the same. We had turkey and ham; we ate dinner together; and we are on this amazing adventure and so have so very much to be grateful for. We still are close with those that we were close to before we left; and more importantly, we are making memories that we will remember our entire lives. My kids will forever remember all that we've done and are going to do. 

This Thanksgiving, for all that was different, was amazing. Because it's not the little details that matter. Those are bits and pieces that can shift and change, and maybe our traditions will change a little too. But we have one another (even our furbabies), and that's all that counts. 

So wherever you are today, whether your doing the same things you've done for years or have changed things up, I hope you had a wonderful day filled with those things that you are most grateful for. 

From my family to yours, Happy Thanksgiving!