I try to make American holidays feel special. Sometimes it's a balancing act with our "American-ness" (so the kids don't forget their home culture) and our "Japanese-ness" (trying to fit in and be apart of our host culture). Little things can help our home feel like Thanksgiving though. Some of these are the wooden pilgrim decorations and even our stuffed turkey, a Beanie Baby. (I actually bought this stuffed animal years ago so that my little boys wouldn't play bowling with my pilgrims.) This silly turkey has become a treasured family heirloom.
Our family enjoyed celebrating Thanksgiving yesterday (remember we are a day ahead of you in the States). We even had canned cranberry sauce, gravy and stuffing (all brought in our suitcase from the U.S.)! We felt like normal Americans having turkey with Americans actually on Thanksgiving day. In the past the boys had a regular school day since they were going to the local Japanese school. It was extra nice for them to have a real holiday American style with several days off.
Since we don't have a Wal-mart (something I dearly miss I have to confess) and I couldn't find any inexpensive, orange votive candles, I made these simple center-pieces. I took small glass jars that I had (mostly jam jars that I had peeled off the label and washed) and tied orange raffia around the top. Then I just dropped in a lit tea light candle. These 5 little jars (all different sizes) helped to brighten up our table. Can you believe we got 13 of us all around the dinner table? (Well, 2 tables pushed together with the sofa pushed up against the wall.) We are thankful for these dear friends who were in Bible college-seminary with us years and years ago. We have all met up again as missionaries here in Tokyo and an extra plus is that our kids are all the best of friends. We sure have a lot to be thankful for!
