Thanksgiving in the UK

Two weeks left in Northern Ireland!

I really have not done a good job with keeping up and writing new posts very often! Believe it or not, my personal journal is even worse. i just really have a hard time sitting down and writing, especially if there's nothing super-profound in my head to put on the page. I think what keeps me writing here at least every once in a while is that i can get a comment or two. I'm very relational and a chance for even a little human interaction can spur me on (thanks, sara!).

Things have been really busy here lately. Yesterday (thanksgiving thursday) we had a paper due and class in Belfast. It was our last day to spend in Belfast, which was kind of sad! It was a good day, although very blustery and cold. But then our professor canceled lectures for today and postponed our papers in the spirit of thanksgiving. I was VERY thankful for that because i've been getting a bit stressed and emotional lately, so the break was nice and i actually got sleep because i wasn't having to write a paper!

Today was our big Thanksgiving feast. I was really impressed with how much of the home comfort food we had! Mashed potatoes were probably my favorite. You'd think with all of the potatoes that they have here in Ireland they could mash a few. But ordering them at a restaurant means that you get boiled potatoes with maybe some butter that have been beaten up a bit, but NOT mashed and creamy! And we had an overabundance of cranberry sauce. We probably could have served cranberry sauce to five times the amount of people that we had. I just thought that was a bit humorous. And we even had an assortment of pies for dessert. It was a fun way to celebrate as a conglomeration of people that, over the past few months, have become a sort of a family.

It feels as if the weathers getting even colder. But I think that the highs are actually in the 40's. It seems bitterly cold, though, I think because it's blustery and a wet cold that seems to seep in. The lack of sunlight as of late (except for today, it was clear!) could also contribute to the cold feeling. Another thing that the houses are a bit drafty and heated by radiators as opposed to central heating, and they never really seem to do the trick! All of that means wearing lots of layers and taking numerous tea breaks throughout the day! I think that's a habit that I'd like to keep up when I get home. Tea breaks are just lovely!