Thanksgiving in a winter wonderland

The thing that I was most excited about, when the exchange began to sink in, was being able to celebrate Thanksgiving. Years of watching Friends (and seeing Monica's spread) and reading American books had wet my appetite for this most American of holidays (and pumpkin pie of course). On top of this, my class were very excited about it too, giving me lots of details about pie, pie and more pie as well as wishbone pulling and having a great feast with friends and family.

Finally the day arrived! We started this morning with the Greely hockey turkey trot 5K from the high school, braving slippy paths and listening to the ice crunch beneath our sneakers as we dashed for the finish line. Sadly, no-one was dressed up as a turkey!

With that mission accomplished, it was on to a much harder task...eating the feast. Sarah had invited me to join her family at her sister's house and so we set off with various vegetables and desserts to add to the table. I decided that I couldn't quite face tofurkey as it really didn't look appetising so it was vegetables, cranberries and stuffing all the way for me. Very nice it was too!

All was eclipsed, however, by the much anticipated pie course...pumpkin (it's traditional), pecan (it smelt so delicious when it was baking yesterday), butterfinger (well, it's an American candy bar made into pie) and a few escaped cherries from the cherry pie (they looked too good to miss!). I had to resist apple and chocolate as my stomach refused to expand any more. No thermals needed, I have all the blubber I need!!

After dinner, as we lay about and groaned, it was game time. I did incredibly badly when the round centred on African-American politicians and early Beatles songs (much to everyone's disappointment in me as a British person), however, I redeemed myself by excelling on...wait for it...The British Royal Family!!!!! I could name them all. And I thought I wasn't a royalist!

Thanks to Sarah's family for making me feel so welcome. I had a great first Thanksgiving and can't wait to celebrate next year with family and friends at home. I'm already planning the pie menu...

Sunsets and shovelling

Well another action packed weekend has passed. There was no time for any rest as I had to ensure Mum and Jim squeezed as much in to their 10 days as possible! On Friday night we went to the most amazing vegetarian restaurant where they served delicious thai dishes. Tempura asparagus...yum! I did ask the owner if she would set up a branch in Northampton but she complained about the distance of the commute. What a wimp!

A highlight of the weekend was catching the mail boat that visits the islands of Casco bay twice daily. It was gloriously sunny and perfect for standing out on deck, watching the sun set and gettting a snap shot of what life must be like on the islands. Lots of people had been grocery shopping in Portland and were transporting them on and off the boat in big carts.

However, no trip to Maine is complete without a trip to L.L.Bean...

It's weird not having them here any more but they escaped just in time. We had oodles (in British terms) of snow overnight and I did my first snow shovelling today...lucky me!

Look who the cat dragged all the way to Maine!

My first visitors to Maine arrived last Saturday on the bus from Boston. After their fair share of travel nightmares - mum having entered her passport number incorrectly on her visa, had to go and buy another in an internet cafe in Heathrow before she was allowed to check-in - Mum and Jim arrived, bringing with them their good company as well as the missing components from my winter wardrobe.

We started their trip, as promised, with a trip to Stones for breakfast and very nice it was too. Then in was a drive around Maine in search of a craft fair, the famous light house and the lovely Old port. I am taking full advantage of having a chef in residence and to date have enjoyed 5 yummy meals cooked by my mother!

This week has also seen me reach minor celebrity status. My name in lights...well, almost. I made the school sign!!!

The PTO wanted to find a way for more children and parents to meet me as the school is so huge and the kids are so fascinated by my funny way of talking. I did suggest a bonfire night party but this was rather ambitious what with needing fire licenses etc so we decided on having a British tea party instead.

I had no idea that it would be quite as big an event as it was. A team of volunteers set tables in British colours and bunting was made from flags children had coloured. Everyone sat down to eat scones, jam and cream and drink tea from proper cups and saucers. It was an incredible event. 

Then there was the entertainment...oh that was me. Very very bizarre. I did a quiz on all things British where I was the most amazing quiz master. Anne Robinson better watch out (or not...in the sport round, I asked which sport the picture showed, then proceeded to say how it was a picture of Northampton's rugby team). The wierdest part for me, however, was being asked questions by the kids. I can't imagine ever being this interesting to anyone ever again. What is your favourite thing? and What is your favourite dress? were two of my favourites. Everyone now knows about my Toots obsession, my love of Reese's peanut butter cups, that I miss Jaffa cakes and that in the UK we call American football, American football. The bookings for future events have been rolling in ever since!

A sparkling start to November

How can it be November already? It was strange having the 5th pass without the sound of fireworks popping, whizzing and crackling as soon as it got dark, however, I spent last week talking to lots of different classes about why we celebrate bonfire night. They enjoyed hearing about the demise of the villains and many did firework pictures with paint and glitter galore. I loved my Q and A sessions with the children - some great questions...Is King James still alive? Who was the good guy - the King or Guy Fawkes? Was Guy Fawkes a terrorist? How long did it take them to die?...not all of them easy to answer!

I also had a bizarre moment with my class when I realised what separation of church and state really means - no idea that, when watching an animated Christmas song video in French, the baby donkey is meant to symbolise Jesus. No child of school age in the UK would have any problem with that. It's going to be a strange December without the nativity play.

On Friday night, I went on the first Friday art walk in Portland. All the little galleries stay open late and you can wander round and admire some of the wonderful craftsmanship on display (some amazingly beautiful jewellery made using naturally expired butterfly's wings) and the not so wonderful, yet still horrendously expensive. You also get to chuckle at people discussing the colour pallet issues of arranging photographs taken with mobile phones...Pretentious? Moi?

This weekend also saw me complete the Great Osprey 10km run at Wolfe's neck state park in Freeport. What a beautiful location and a stunning day but brrrr...it was cold! I marvelled at the crazy people running in shorts and vests. It was a small event and we set off along quiet roads (with traffic still passing), went up and down some rather steep hills and finally came around by the ocean. It really was a stunning run and I was pleased to come in in 48 minutes and in a respectable 67th place (out of 294). Great to see my support team as I crossed the finish line!


The support team!

Yesterday I had another cultural experience. I went to see Sarah and Stuart perform with the Choral Arts Society, acompanied by the Kotzchmar organ, at the Merrill Auditorium in Portland. I sat next to a man in the second half who was on the 'Friends of the Kotzchmar organ' board so now for the trivia...The organ is one of only two surviving public organs in the United States (the other being in San Diego and is situated outdoors). It was a lovely concert and Stuart did a great job with his solo. So good, in fact, that I earwigged the people behind asking whether he was a professional singer.