This was our second Thanksgiving while living abroad. It’s a strange thing, living outside the country on Thanksgiving. It’s such an important holiday for Americans, but of course, the day is meaningless to everyone else. So, work and school go on, as usual, on Thanksgiving. It feels like any other day. We Facetime with family back home, and see that everyone is gathering together to celebrate. It feels weird. And a little lonely.

This year, we invited our friends to Riedeners over for Thanksgiving dinner. Michelle is American and Daniel is Swiss, so they celebrate both Swiss and American holidays. Their son, Ashton, also came, as did Michelle’s Swiss friend Irina, who she loves like a daughter. It was a bit intimidating, as Daniel is a professional chef, but I think we pulled it off. We also had Marc’s mom and sister visiting. It wasn’t quite the big, boisterous Thanksgiving celebration we are used to in the U.S., but it was our own quiet little nod to the holiday way over here in Switzerland. We were so grateful to be lucky enough to share it with Marc’s mom and sister, and some of our adopted family here in Switzerland.