So...About That...

So that was a strange Thanksgiving. I got home and asked my host mom what she was wearing to the restaurant, because us Americans thought it would be fun to dress up. She said she didn't know, but nothing too fancy. It was at this point I half freaked out over being too fancy, and half didn't care anymore and was going to just wear what I had in mind. I picked out an orange dress with brown accessories to be festive and seasonal. Then the dinner was supposed to start at 7:30 pm. My host parents thought this was to early, so we left our house to drive (about a 5 minute drive) at 7:45, arriving around 8 by the time we found parking. Walking into the restaurant, there were two families already there and there were bisous all around, even with the professors that were there. After talking awkwardly while standing for a little while and waiting for everyone else to arrive, more bisous, we all finally sat down and were served an aperitif. This was a very sweet wine, it wasn't bad, I don't know if I could drink much more than the little bit served to us. I was seated near three Americans and some French host parents. The host parents were shocked when the Americans spoke in French to each other. We have a habit of speaking French when there are French people around - we don't want them to feel left out of our conversation, and it's a good excuse to speak French. After some "get to know you" conversation with host parents, dinner was brought out. It was:
Pieces of Turkey (everyone got something different, between breast, leg, thigh etc., the turkey wasn't that bad, other than the fact that it was difficult to get off the bone with a fork and knife and in the awkward politeness of French restaurants we could not maneuver it any other way than with a fork, knife, or bread)
Mashed Potatoes (definitely not as good as mom's, and there wasn't even gravy to put on them!)
Cranberry Sauce (which wasn't the normal gelled kind, but real cranberries that were warm and kind of mashed up to create a sauce)
Cauliflower (way too small of a portion for how much I like veggies, but none the less it was yummy)
and last but not least: pureed gizzards! (it was gizzards cooked with bread, and other spices, put into a mold, cooked then sliced, it was kind of like meatloaf)
Then after the main course, there was a cheese and salad course, and of course there was not enough salad for everyone, so everyone only took a few leaves to be polite and leave some for the other people. The cheese of course was good, but definitely not traditional American. Then the dessert was the worst ending to a Thanksgiving I'd ever had. It was a pistachio ice cream and raspberry sorbet. Beautifully presented with raspberry sauce decoratively piped onto the plate, but it was not the ending to a Thanksgiving dinner that I had in mind. After several glasses of wine, some French-ized American food, the Americans decided to go out and find a party or something else to do, to celebrate Thanksgiving in an even stranger way.
So this was definitely the weirdest Thanksgiving I'd ever had, I'm not sure if I want to repeat the experience, but it just doesn't feel like it will be December in one short week. The weather here is strangely warm (think early October in Michigan), and there is no chance of snow any time soon. Although I have been here for almost three months next week, it still feels like it's only been a short amount of time, but on the other hand, I can't find enough time to fit everything in that I want to do. I miss a real Thanksgiving, with actually decent food, and a pumpkin pie end.
Peace, Love, and Strange Times in France...