Thanksgiving Day the Expat Way!

Thanksgiving is one of my favorite holidays. It has all sorts of fantastic food, you don't have to worry about distributing gifts for everyone, and it starts off a month of listening to Christmas carols, rather than the ending it. Christmas is a large part of Danish culture and Halloween is slowly starting to become popular, so out of my three favorite holidays Thanksgiving is the one that still remains pretty much exclusive to the United States. So I made it my personal mission to have Thanksgiving dinner, without being a gung-ho American.

Armed with information from the internet, emails home, and half-remembered memories of what Thanksgiving at home is like, I went off to find ingredients. It actually was not that difficult: I had to get chicken instead of a turkey, and fresh pumpkin instead of canned, but everything else was available. But I don't even want to think about how much I paid for the cranberries. But it all turned out really well! I cooked with a friend from class, and we ate with a few Danish friends from my kollegium.

The famous pie I've been bragging about. It wasn't that difficult to make; the only thing I wish I had was a pastry cutter. I also realize that I may have just involuntary volunteered to do pie for Christmastime... 

I had to take a picture of everything. We moved one of the tables from downstairs into my 52 square foot  kollegium room. It just barely fit, but it was nice and cozy. 

Because my study abroad program is designed for American students, we had no class on Friday. So a friend and I went to Tivoli, the amusement park that is in the middle of Copenhagen. It's the second oldest amusement park in the world, and has rides and lake in the middle. Right now it is decorated for Christmas, and it is lovely at night in the snow. 

Tivoli is literally in the middle of Copenhagen, about a 10 minute walk from my classes. You can see the taller buildings of Copenhagen when you are inside - it is very surreal to look up over the cute decorated Christmas cabins to see the SAS building or City Hall towering overhead.

A children's playground in Tivoli. I think they're demolishing a building near City Hall, hence the cranes. 

Quality Street candies are my favorite European candy, after Kinder Surprises, but I thought they were only sold in the United Kingdom. Tivoli proved me wrong, and the other day I found a 2 kilogram tin for sale in the grocery store. Unfortunately, it was way to big for me to justify purchasing it to bring home. 

Tivoli is covered in snow. It has been snowing almost non stop since Tuesday evening, so today I went for a walk around my neighborhood. It makes my neighborhood look much nicer than usual, and the nearby beach looks almost ghostly. I've never seen snow at the beach before! 

From the roof of my building. 

Amager Strand. It is a lovely beach, and is a part of the redevelopment of Amager. 

I have one last picture for a very picture heavy post. The Little Mermaid Statue is back from Shanghai! So I had to go out and see her, just so I could say that I have. It's a very small statue, and it is surprisingly close to the shore. But since the statue is a cultural symbol of the city, one can't visit Copenhagen without seeing it in person. 

Den lille havfrue.