Thanksgiving in the Czech Republic

This was my third consecutive Thanksgiving away from home and my second one I’ve ever spent outside of the United States.

I’ve gotten used to not being around most of my family for this holiday which I suppose put me in a better state of mind than a lot of the other kids who are here. That said, I still miss my family (and of course the food that goes along with a traditional Thanksgiving dinner).

Even though my past few Thanksgivings have been nothing close to traditional (I spent 2003 with my family and distant cousins in a small coal mining village in Wales at a Mexican food restaurant. Seriously) this one was also rather bizarre, but what else would you expect from living abroad? No complaints here in the end.

NYU put on a dinner for us at a super swanky hotel across the river in the Smichov district of Prague. The food was served buffet style so the hot turkey and mashed potatoes were gone by the time we arrived. Lame, but it was okay (except that part where I ate cold cut turkey for Thanksgiving. What?).

The ingredients for everything else was very similar to what you would have in the States but the presentation was all very different. There was pumpkin ragout and sweet potatoes cut into chunks like carrots. Everything was delicious, just a bit odd.

The next day, to celebrate the official start of the Christmas season (even though the Czechs started putting up decorations back in October) Molly and I collectively cooked about three or four different types of cookies each and we all fell into a solid food coma for the second day in a row. Then we watched Love, Actually. This weekend was a success, at least food-wise I guess.