Thanksgiving Indonesia Style

My first big holiday in another country was a lot easier than I expected to be away from home and family and friends. There were so many things that made this year special and so many things I am thankful for. I wanted to list a few things I’m thankful for:
- For one thing…being in another country. I am constantly amazed that I am living in Indonesia. Pretty often, the realization of where I live will hit me and I can’t believe God has given me the opportunity to live here. I’ll be riding on my motorbike and all of a sudden think “I am in Indonesia…this is crazy!!”
- For my motorbike! I know, that’s not very deep, but it is one of my favorite things here. I love riding it!! J
- For my family and friends who have made it possible to be here.
- For the friendships I’ve made since being here.
- The place where I live...the kos really feels like home and it is a huge blessing that I feel so comfortable around the girls at my kos.
- For the Pierce’s(the family I moved here with from Boston). They have become like family to me. I’m so grateful for their friendship, the way they’ve opened their lives and home to me, and of course for their kids—they are the most precious kids and are pretty entertaining, too! J
- For the community here in Malang from the U.S. It has been a huge blessing to connect with people from the states. A group of families got together Saturday to celebrate Thanksgiving. It made it so special to be able to be around families, give thanks, and have dinner together.
- For the teachers and staff at KPN. I would never have survived here without them! Haha They have pretty much done everything for us even before we got here. They set up our visas, helped us with setting up our life when we first moved here, told us all the necessary things we needed to do, and continue to help with anything that comes up here. They’ve also been our teachers for language and culture here.

On Friday, we got the opportunity to host a dinner for the teachers, staff and students at KPN to celebrate Thanksgiving. It was so fun to be able to share with them one of my favorite holidays and have them experience something from my culture after they have shared so much of their culture with me. It’s pretty fitting to celebrate Thanksgiving with the group of people I’m so thankful for here. We were able to find a turkey here and it was my first time ever cooking a turkey by myself! I’m happy to say I didn’t burn the turkey and it was a success! J There were about 40 people at the party and we only had one 13 pound turkey, but everyone did get to taste it! Haha All but 2 of the Indonesians had never tasted a turkey before, so it was fun to see them try it. They loved it!

Unfortunately I forgot my camera, but Lisa was able to get a couple shots of the layout on the table and everyone together. Thanks Lisa!

Hope you all had a great Thanksgiving...happy holidays from Indonesia!!