Gobble til you wobble!

Thanksgiving isn't celebrated in Liechtenstein. I know. Crazy, right? A double landlocked country doesn't celebrate Pilgrims sailing to their shores and cooking a feast with people native to another continent.

One of the best pieces of advice some other expats gave me when we moved to the UK was to always plan something big at Thanksgiving. When we were in England this usually meant we took a trip. Work/school/life commitments this year meant that we couldn't go anywhere, so we decided to have an old fashion American pot luck Friendsgiving.

I made a turkey and we rounded up 20 other Americans who 100% brought it on the sides. We had stuffing, we had green bean casserole, we had turkey gumbo, we had sweetcorn, we had carrots, we had pumpkin pie tarts, we had some chocolate something that was so good I didn't ask what it was called because that would have prevented me from stuffing more in my mouth.

We even managed to watch some SportsCenter during dinner because of time zones and alot of technology.

Thanksgiving always makes you reflect on your blessings. This community of friends is definitely at the top of my list today.

Ich gehe mit meiner Laterne (St. Martin's Day)

One thing I love about living in a different country is getting to explore and participate in cultural traditions which are so very different to my own. And believe me, we experienced on this evening!

November 11th is St. Martin's Day, also called Martinmas in German. It is the feast day of St. Martin of Tours, a Roman soldier who died in 397AD. His claim to fame, if you will, was cutting his cloak in half and giving part to a beggar who didn't have anything to wear then later having a vision that Jesus was wearing the half-cloak.

Fast forward a few years and St. Martin's Day is considered the start of the winter celebration season. To bring in the season, children decorate lanterns and have processionals around town singing songs of the season. Charlotte's school put on a mini show / concert complete with lanterns and a parade.

They started with a little history of St. Martin (in German & English). Charlotte has been working so hard on her German lessons this year and her German teacher let her have one of the German speaking parts - one of the few non-native speakers to have German part. I was so proud of her bravery for trying! And if you don't catch it at the beginning of the clip, she says "Liebe Schüler, liebe Eltern, liebe Lehrer" which means, "Dear students, Dear parents, Dear teachers". I didn't say it was a large speaking part 😆

I tried to capture a few of the songs, all of which are in German. The first is "Laterne, Laterne". You can see the words in German & English here.

This next one is called "Lichterkinder" which translates to Children of Lights. Fitting for a lantern parade. I couldn't find an English translated version ready to go on this one, so here is the German words and you can throw them into Google Translate as necessary 😊 

Finally we paraded around the neighborhoods by the school with their lanterns. They were supposed to be singing, but who knows what was really going on!

Alles Gute zum Geburtstag, Olivia!

 

To Olivia on your second birthday,

So much of your world has changed over the last year and you handled it all like a champion demonstrating your flexibly and grace while rolling with each new thing thrown at you.

You are curious. You want to do everything (& I mean EVERYTHING your sister does). You love your daycare and run to your teachers every morning, but I (not so) secretly hope your favorite part of the day is when I come pick you up - your hugs when you see me make me think it is. You’ve started singing to Daddy at bedtime; repeating all the songs he has sung to you over the last two years. You have no problem expressing when you want the green plate, not the blue one. You find new ways to exert your independence each day. You make me work hard for a smile which makes each one precious to me.

We took chocolate chip muffins to school today to share with your friends. Your teachers said you ate 5 {they were little, I promise!}. Maybe we’ll work on the concept of sharing for next year.

For today, know that I love you. I’m so thankful I get to be your mom.

I love you.