Thanksgiving Day Weekend

This past weekend has been very busy around here to say the least. I had my first American Thanksgiving in 5 years, we met with not one, but both sides of the family, I saw some cousins who I had not seen in 5 and 10 years respectively, and met some new members of the extended family for the first time. Plus I had the infamous 10 year high school reunion on Saturday.

In order to give all of these developments full space, and develop the long winded posts for which this blog is famous, I’ve decided to break these up into separate entries and post over the next couple days.

To begin with, it is nice to finally be back in the US for Thanksgiving Day holiday. (After my entry on the 4th of July, I guess I’m gradually working my way through the Calender of all the holidays I haven’t been around for during the past 5 years). However us ex-patriots always did what we could to celebrate in Japan. It was tough being away from friends and family back home, but on the other hand there is a strong sense of comradery with the other ex-pats that makes the experience enjoyable. I’m sure many of you who have been away from home during the holidays can identify with this. (Rob Patton, who lived too far away to make it home, used to always talk about all the fun he had bonding with the other Boer-Bennick people stuck in the dorms during Thanksgiving Weekend.) The Thanksgiving Dinners in Japan, and for that matter the couple of Christmases I spent in Japan, are among my best memories.

In fact among the various English speaking JETs we found excuses to celebrate several times once we added in the Canadian Thanksgiving and Guy Fawkes Day. American turkey and pumpkin pie were always hard to find in Japan, but last year in particular someone had connections and was able to pull it off....

....Which actually was the cause of severe disagreement after some British JETs insisted that this thing we Americans call pumpkin pie is actually pumpkin mousse. This touched off a long and heated discussion over exactly what the definition of a pie is. The British insisted that a proper pie had to have crust on both the bottom and the top. Several dictionaries were consulted, and in the end everyone finally agreed that at least some definitions of pie only have crust on the bottom.

This year back in America such heated debates were absent from the dinner table. Instead the relatives came over, and the usual old stories were rehashed.

Maybe this is a sign that I’m getting old, but I’m starting to actually look forward to family gatherings. The cousins who used to be annoying little kids are now all pleasant young people in their 20s. And the older adults are starting to seem more like real people to me, and less like, well, adults.

In particular, I was glad to see my cousins Brian and Jeff, who I have not seen for many years. Growing up, they were the only cousins who lived out of state, so I would see them maybe twice a year in a good year. I’ve always thought that if it wasn’t for the geographical distance, they would have been my best friends growing up. (On the other hand, maybe the novelty is what made them appealing. If I had seen them all the time, maybe we would have gotten sick of each other and started quarreling. You never know. )

At any rate, after they moved to North Carolina, and I went to Japan, I haven’t seen them years. (5 years in the case of Brian, 10 years in the case of Jeff.) Nor had I meant Jeff’s wife, or Brian’s kid.

Jeff actually spent a year in Japan overlapping the time I was there. In retrospect I can’t believe we never got together during that time, but we didn’t. I sent a few e-mails, and once I got a hold of his phone number left a few messages with his roommate. When I didn’t get a response I just thought, “Well, screw it, I tried.” If I had known it would be another 5 years before I got an opportunity to see him, I would have tried harder.

Useless Wikipedia Fact
The song "I'm So Tired" was recorded at three in the morning, which enhances the sentiment.
The song also mentions famed English author and explorer Sir Walter Raleigh by name, calling him a "stupid git" for bringing the tobacco plant to England.

Link of the Day
From Media Mouse:
The news media has been framing the resignation of Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld as a “sea of change” in Washington. However, all the coverage of Rumsfeld’s announcement omitted any serious review or investigation of his role in War Crimes during his tenure as head of the Department of Defense (DoD). On November 14, the Center for Constitutional Rights will file a War Crimes Complaint against Donald Rumsfeld in a German court. The complaint is brought on behalf of 12 torture victims consisting of 11 Iraqi citizens who were held at Abu Ghraib prison and one Guantánamo detainee and charges numerous high ranking US officials for “authorizing war crimes.” This effort is part of a growing campaign by groups like Human Rights First and War Crimes Watch (a new website devoted to educating people on war crimes and holding those responsible accountable) to hold Rumsfeld accountable for his actions. (complete article here)