Highlights

In a few weeks, 2008 will come to an end and just like everyone else, I'll be looking back at the year gone by and taking stock--high points, low points, where to from here? It's all part of the yearly ritual that leads to the often ill fated New Year's resolution. I know I still have a month left to mull this all over, but I'm going to go out on a limb and say now that Halloween and Thanksgiving were two of my proudest moments of this year. The reason being, in both cases, I was able to successfully recreate an authentic American holiday experience for my children by sharing my traditions with my friends and neighbours.

Halloween and my neighbourhood trick-or-treating project taught me the overwhelming power of ONE. It's true what they say (whoever they is), one person really can make a difference. I was just a girl with a dream and a plan. Last year I put it on paper and handed it out to my neighbours with a small amount of success. This year I persevered, built on my idea and the payoff was huge. I truly felt that my children got to experience the same type of Halloween celebration that I did as a kid. It was probably as authentic as I'm going to get here in Australia. Not only have I been able to give that experience to my children, but that little pebble I chucked in the pond has sent ripples through the whole neighbourhood. Judging by the enthusiasm on the day, Halloween trick-or-treating is going to become an October tradition around here.

As for Thanksgiving, I think I finally nailed it. This year I was able to gather all the necessary ingredients, and single handed, prepare a truly traditional Thanksgiving feast for my family and friends. I must admit, I got a lot of inspiration from Pioneer Woman and the wonderful recipes she shares on her blog. (If you haven't visited her site, you must. She's truly a Wonder Woman) Recipes aside, I've cooked Thanksgiving dinner many times since I've lived here in Australia, but for some reason, this year's meal was probably the best. You might put this down to practice--I've done it enough times now that I should have a handle on it. Yes, that is true, but it's more than that. I think, like Halloween, it's the idea of introducing a tradition and watching as it's slowly embraced by the group you are introducing it to. The smiles on the faces of our guests (mostly Aussies) at yesterday's Thanksgiving celebration was all the thanks I needed.

I'm already looking forward to 2009 so I can watch these seeds I've planted continue to grow and flourish.

Thanksgiving Down Under

During my time here in Australia, Thanksgiving is one holiday that I've managed to celebrate in one way or another each year. The tradition has taken on even greater importance to me after the birth of my children. This year is no exception, the preparations have begun and I've started putting together the bits and pieces that will make up our Thanksgiving meal. As my daughter gets older, she's becoming more aware of my preparations and of the tradition itself. As we were out shopping today picking up a few things for Thanksgiving, we had the following conversation:

Her: "Mum, does everyone in Australia celebrate Thanksgiving?"

Me: "No darling. In fact, Australians don't celebrate Thanksgiving. Thanksgiving is a holiday that people in America celebrate and because you are half American and your Mommy is American then we celebrate it."

Her: "Mum, I'm not half American."

Me: "You're not? What are you then?"

Her: "I'm ALL American."

Me: "Really?"

Her: "Yeah, listen..CUCUMBERRRRRR!"

Me: "You're right. You are ALL American CUCUMBERRRR!!"

Then we both laughed.

Why is that funny? Well, my daughter speaks almost exclusively in an Australian accent. It makes sense because she was born here and has lived all of her four years here in Australia. My accent has become very Australian as well, so she doesn't get too much exposure to the American accent. There are still certain words that I say, however, that carry the American emphasis and accent and "cucumber" is one of them. So whenever my daughter wants to be funny, she'll say "cucumber" and really stress the "r" at the end because Australians don't pronounce the "r". They would say, "cucumba". Then she falls on the floor and kills herself laughing. Essentially she's poking fun at my American accent. She's four, folks. I didn't realise the mocking would start so early...