On the 25th of November, 100 AIB students celebrated Thanksgiving by having a nice American/German dinner. Thanksgiving is a time for bringing family and friends together and giving thanks to the good things in life. For many students this was the first Thanksgiving without family, but in a way having close to 100 Americans, 15 Italians, and festive holiday music, there was a nice family-like atmosphere.
The AIB provided the students with 12 turkeys, mashed potatoes, drinks, and also added a German seasonal tradition to the American holiday, by providing Glühwein. The students were in charge of the appetizers, sides, and desserts. This turned out to be a good idea, because it made for an interesting variety of food. Appetizers ranged from artichoke cheese bread, bruschetta, and a nice variety of salads, all the way to chips, guacamole, and mango salsa. The sides were also interesting. We had a huge assortment of vegetables, casseroles, cranberries, lasagna, as well as the german side called knödel. After all that food some people still had room for dessert, which included, cheese cake, muffins, pudding, a variety of pies, and sugar cookies. Many students pointed out that this great assortment of food provided them with more options than they would have had back home.
All in all, for myself this was a great experience. At first, I was actually jealous of my friends and family back home in America. Of course, Germany does not celebrate Thanksgiving so here it was just a normal day. All businesses were open, all schools were open, no parades were on television, it felt a little weird. I got up just like everyday and headed to work, while I'm sure most of my friends and family in America woke up and got to watch the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade. It would have been great to be home in Texas with them to celebrate the holiday the way that I usually do, but by the end of AIB dinner I felt that my Thanksgiving was in no way a disappointment. This different style of Thanksgiving dinner was an amazing experience that I will never forget.
