Luckily, I was able to track down a fellow American, Ken, who I knew wouldn't want to be sitting around Cergy doing nothing while everyone else was at home enjoying family dinners, how depressing would that be?! So I met up with him and Lachy (who is Australian) and we headed into Paris on Thursday morning. Our first stop? La Defense to go see Harry Potter, of course! If you know anything about me, you know I'm a huge Harry Potter nerd. I read the seventh book in 6 hours because I didn't want anyone to accidentally ruin it for me and tell me what happened, I've also been known to go to the midnight showing of the movies. So it killed me last Thursday night when all my friends in Louisville were preparing to go to the midnight movie and it wasn't even going to be released until the 24th here! The movie was awesome and I can't wait for the second part to come out this summer and luckily, the movie was in English and the French subtitles weren't nearly as distracting as I thought they would be...
After the movie we headed into Paris to do some shopping. Well the boys shopped for Christmas gifts for their moms and I limited myself to just looking. I have to admit, it's extremely hard to behave and not buy things for yourself when shopping in Paris, I was quite proud of myself for doing such a good job. After going to a bunch of stores, we headed to a Christmas market on the Champs Elysees, it was so cute! All the trees were decorated and there were booths selling all different things, from touristy gifts to jewelry to crepes and hot wine. I tried to take some pictures, but it was so cold my hand kept shaking and they all ended up blurry. I guess I'll just have to go back and take some more.
After we nearly froze to death, we headed over to Chez Omar, a well known Moroccan restaurant and met up with six other people. It was a great dinner. I had never had couscous before, but I loved it. We just ordered a whole bunch of different kinds and shared, which was the perfect way to do it and we had a TON of food! Dinner was great, I'm really glad I got to share a big meal with a bunch of people on Thanksgiving, even if it wasn't turkey and mashed potatoes. It was just a very relaxing dinner and I really enjoyed myself.
I made it back to Cergy just in time to Skype my family and join in for the Turkey of the Year awards, a Leddin family tradition given out to whoever does the dumbest thing that year. Nikki and I have presented them for as long as I can remember and this year I thought I was going to miss out, but we had a solution for that! They emailed me the nominees (yup, there are multiple nominations each year) and I was able to read my part. I was also able to accept my award via Skype, just like the celebrities who can't make it to the Grammys. Yup, I won the Turkey of the Year award, even though I'm 4,000 miles away. What could I possibly have won it for you may ask? Well the nomination read... " Meg: Had a couple mishaps this year. After Mary and Tom tried different ways to rid of their entertainment center (Craigslist, Penny Saver, trash day), Meg gave them a helping hand by backing it over before fleeing the country. She then traveled to the City of Lights and promptly managed to put them all out." oops. I am now the back to back winner of Turkey of the Year Awards, I don't know if I should be proud of that or not...
The day I was dreading turned out to be a great one, life has been pretty quiet and school oriented lately so it was nice to go and spend the day in Paris and then I was able to talk to my family that night, doesn't get much better than that!
Even though it was hard for me to miss a big family holiday and all the food that comes with it, (if you haven't figure out by now, I'm a huge fan of food) I've realized that I have so much to be thankful for this year. I have an amazing family, great neighbors, and the best friends a girl could ask for. They have been my support system through everything and I never would have made it for a semester abroad without them, I probably never would have even made it on the plane without their support. I've had the most amazing European experience this semester, not only from the places that I've gone, but from all the people I've met. I have literally met people from every corner of the world, which is pretty awesome. This semester has been a huge learning experience for me and even though it's hard to miss out on the things going on at home, I don't regret coming here at all. Not only do I have a ton to be thankful for, I have so much to look forward to in the next month between: my last few weeks and visits to Paris, returning home, seeing everyone and eating all the foods I miss, my 21st birthday, and Christmas. I have to say, I'm a pretty lucky girl.
It may have not been the most conventional Thanksgiving, but it was definitely still a good one :)
(I am looking forward to having two huge Thanksgiving dinners next year though...)
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| Did I mention I made a special appearance at Thanksgiving before I even Skyped my family? |
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