Järistyksiä

Next Thursday will be my second ever Thanksgiving, on American soil anyway. I did spend one in Beijing, at Andre's cousin's place, and then one in New Hampshire, at Andre's parents' place. This year we're crowding together at Andre's brother's place in Arcata (Northern California). Considering that the most common greeting for Thanksgiving I've heard has been 'Happy Thanksgiving, I hope you're not cooking' (not as an insult, but as a genuine wish), I'm kind of glad I've never had to be the host and cook at this particular holiday.

Usually what I do if asked to provide a Finnish dish for the table is I march into the supermarket, buy some lox (= graavi lohi), fresh dill and potatoes. The potatoes never taste quite as good as they should but otherwise it's a great way to be off the hook.

This year lox is out. Raw fish is not recommended for pregnant women, and especially with the grandparents present I'm not going to risk it. Instead I've discovered non-alcoholic wine, so that'll be my contribution.

In addition to being pregnant, I've started at a new job, am trying to finish up with school for the semester, still not clear with immigration, spend most of my weekends trying to get the home furnished and in order, trying to get thesis material together to be able to write it in the spring, and have the in-laws visiting for three weeks for the Thanksgiving holidays (they're spending half the time here, half the time in Arcata). AND we're flying to Finland in less than a month for a 2 week holiday.

So that's why I haven't been blogging too much.