Happy Thanksgiving!!!!

Now most Americans know the history and what Thanksgiving is, but to those who are reading this blog and do not know what it is I will do a short history. For those that do know it can skip ahead to the tradition section.

Thanksgiving Day is a national holiday celebrated primarily in the United States and Canada, with several other places around the world observing similar celebrations. It is celebrated on the fourth Thursday of November in the United States and on the second Monday of October in Canada.

In the United States, the modern Thanksgiving holiday tradition is commonly traced to a poorly documented 1621 celebration at Plymouth in present-day Massachusetts. The 1621 Plymouth feast and Thanksgiving was prompted by a good harvest.

Pilgrims and Puritans who began emigrating from England in the 1620s and 1630s carried the tradition of Days of Fasting and Days of Thanksgiving with them to New England. Several days of Thanksgiving were held in early New England history that have been identified as the "First Thanksgiving", including Pilgrim holidays in Plymouth in 1621 and 1623, and a Puritan holiday in Boston in 1631.

Thanksgiving proclamations were made mostly by church leaders in New England up until 1682, and then by both state and church leaders until after the American Revolution. During the revolutionary period, political influences affected the issuance of Thanksgiving proclamations. Various proclamations were made by royal governors, John Hancock, General George Washington, and the Continental Congress, each giving thanks to God for events favorable to their causes. As President of the United States, George Washington proclaimed the first nation-wide thanksgiving celebration in America marking November 26, 1789, "as a day of public thanksgiving and prayer to be observed by acknowledging with grateful hearts the many and signal favours of Almighty God".

Thanksgiving has its historical roots in religious traditions, but today is celebrated in a more secular manner, typically with family.

Every year, the President of the United States will "pardon" a turkey, which spares the bird's life and ensures that it will spend the duration of its life roaming freely on farmland.

Tradition

Now if you ask what is it that makes it Thanksgiving, most people will say "it's not Thanksgiving without the cranberry sauce." Here is what I looked up for traditional Thanksgiving dinner and pastimes. 

Dishes

Turkey                                                            Glazed carrots

Mashed potatoes                                             Macaroni and cheese

Gravy                                                              Jello mold with some kind of fruit in it

Cranberry sauce                                              Fruit salad

Stuffing                                                            Sweet potato (pie)

Butter nut squash                                             Pumpkin Pie

Green bean casserole                                      Pecan Pie

Cheesy potato casserole                                  Apple Pie

Rolls                                                               Apple Cider

Peas, corn                                                       Wine

Cornbread

Pastimes

American Football (Turkey Bowl)

Deer Hunting

Watching the Macy's Thanksgiving Parade

Splitting the Wishbone

**side fun fact about the Macy's Parade: The first American Thanksgiving Day parade was held in 1920, organized by Gimbel's Department Store in Philadelphia, not Macy's as most people believe. The NYC Macy's Thanksgiving Day parade tradition actually began in 1924, and has grown into an annual event of balloons, bands, and floats, enjoyed by more than 46 million people each year in person and on TV.**

Thanksgiving in Holland

Now while researching the small history about Thanksgiving in general, I found an interesting bit about The Netherlands; some do celebrate it!!!...Just not in the way we think...

Many of the Pilgrims who migrated to the Plymouth Plantation had resided in the city of Leiden from 1609-1620, many of whom had recorded their births, marriages and deaths at the Pieterskerk. To commemorate this, a non-denominational Thanksgiving Day service is held each year on the morning of the American Thanksgiving Day in the Pieterskerk, a Gothic church in Leiden, to commemorate the hospitality the Pilgrims received in Leiden on their way to the New World.

Now the more me and my roommate reminisced over what we were missing (starting with the apple cider) we started planning and seeing what we could make for our own little Thanksgiving here. Our dinner consisted of Turkey breasts that we marinated and fried in a pan (yeah, we don't have an oven...so it limits us), Homemade mashed potatoes and gravy, orange glazed carrots, green beans with cherry tomatoes, traditional sage and also turkey stuffing (sent from my mom in US), spinach mushroom salads, potato salad, wheat rolls, and corn. As well as some apple cider :)

Now because we are in a country that does not recognize it as a holiday; Charla, Adrian, and Arsam still had to go to work, while I also still had to go to my three hour lecture. Both before and after class I was prepping, cleaning, and cooking and it quite literally took all day up until we sat down to enjoy the meal. But well worth it, it was the largest dinner we've had here in Holland and man was it filling. While eating we also found the Turkey Bowl (Detroit Lions v. Houston Texans) online, so we tried teaching the guys American Football...very entertaining ;) 

And of course now here are pics of our small Thanksgiving!

Prepping

All four burners were on at all times...

Our lovely turkey breasts marinated and
about to be cooked

The table, about to eat

Our "tv" set up for the football game

Next to no leftovers :)

Now who wants to do the dishes....

Here are some recipes I used for the meals:

Orange Glazed Carrots

http://allrecipes.com/recipe/orange-glazed-carrots/detail.aspx?event8=1&prop24=SR_Title&e11=orange%20glazed%20carrots&e8=Quick%20Search&event10=1&e7=Home%20Page

Green Beans and Cherry Tomatoes

http://allrecipes.com/recipe/green-beans-with-cherry-tomatoes/detail.aspx?event8=1&prop24=SR_Title&e11=green%20beans&e8=Quick%20Search&event10=1&e7=Recipe

After we were done with our dinner, and the football game was over, both me and Charla skyped our families back home who were either just eating or just finished eating...and here are photos from my family's Thanksgiving dinner up north.

Chef Brian cooking the duck

the Turkey all cut up

Last, but certainly not least, Thanksgiving is about giving thanks for the people and blessings of the past year. From pre-meal prayers to providing holiday meals to the homeless, the holiday is truly a celebration of praise and thanksgiving.

I am very thankful for my amazing family, as well as my great friends. Miss you all and can't wait to see most of you in 2 short months!!

Sinterklaas has come to Zwolle!

Today Sinterklaas has arrived with his steamboat in Zwolle ;-) Around 11.30 hours he will go with his boat through the canals of Zwolle. If you want to know more about the Dutch tradition, here you will find a short summary about this tradition: http://dutchfood.about.com/od/s/g/Sinterklaas.htm

2 Day Trip to London, UK Part 1

Adventure to London
So in order to get to London by bus from Zwolle, you must first get to the Bus Station in Amsterdam...
You bike to the Zwolle Train Station, take a train from Zwolle to Amersfoort, switch in Amersfoort to another train for Amsterdam Central Station, once there take a metro to Amstel Station, then check-in for eurolines and get on bus, the bus then takes you to Calais, France, then you must go through French Border Control (story on that next), then if you pass you must go through UK Border Control next, once through that the bus boards the Eurotunnel Shuttle roll on/roll off train, go under the English Channel along the Straight of Dover, come out in Kent, UK, head to London, and arrive in Victoria Coach Station in London.
Total est. travel time: 11hours
Total travel time taken: 15hours...

French Border Control
The last time we went to France, we went by MegaBus and didn't get stopped by any Border Control, however because we were Euroline this time and we came from Amsterdam we were stopped to get searched...even if we were only going to be in France to get to the Channel Tunnel.
They made us get off the bus with all of our stuff and go through a very long and boring process. First we waited in line for them to just briefly look over our passports, then waited a while longer until they decided we were all going to get checked. We waited in line again to get full body checks and also send all our stuff through the x-ray scanners, and then stand there watching them personally go through all our baggage and check over every little thing we had. **Funny side story, I had made a few sandwiches to eat for the journey and had already eaten a Peanut Butter and Jelly sandwich on the train from Zwolle to Amersfoort and kept the plastic bag to use for another sandwich later. So when the guy was going through my bag and came across this random empty plastic bag, thinking it once held drugs, he asked what it was from and as I was answering "oh yeah, that's from my sandwich from earlier.." he sniffed it. and here I couldn't help myself but ask, "does it smell like peanut butter and jelly? cuz it did when I opened it..." and he just stared at me** The guy that ended up searching mine and Charla's bags was actually quite friendly and tried making conversation, but as we have seen most French don't know much English and so when he asked what we were studying and Charla told him here it's Operational Management, he looked a little dumbfounded and so we said Industrial Engineering and he still looked lost, I just told him I study Business...
After we got the ok, we put our stuff on the bus and waited for everyone else to get done. Which took a while, because some seemed to carry half their possessions with them, but after about an hour we were finally all done and waiting to get our passports back (they had taken them when we got full body checked). Nobody knew what was going on, and we continued to just sit there waiting. Every now and then our bus driver would go ask them what was taking so long, but we were never informed why it was taking so long. At one point two Border Patrolmen came aboard the bus asking if anyone knew who's jacket this was or if anyone saw who was wearing it. No one answered so we sat there for another two hours, when finally they came aboard and started handing us back our passports. As we headed for the UK border patrol some 10-20min away we were told the reason why we were delayed for so long. The jacket they were asking about was found under the bus (near the luggage) with 1.5 kilograms of Opium inside it. Yup. The driver kindly asked that whoever the drug trafficker was to not use Eurolines again to smuggle their drugs, because it gets checked every time because it comes from Amsterdam. We were held for 2 hours thinking that someone would eventually come clean, or confess that they knew who's jacket it was.
Once at UK border control, all we had to do was get out again and show our passports and visas, and for most of us play 20 questions. Some of them made sense and seemed reasonable to ask, but other like "and how long have you known your roommate?" Just seemed odd.

Welcome to the Channel Tunnel

The Channel Tunnel, more commonly called the Chunnel, is a 31-mile undersea railroad connecting England's southern shore to northern France. Traveling more than 200 feet below the English Channel on high-speed Eurostar trains or one of the vehicle transport trains is quick and easy. The Eurostar trains reach speeds of around 300 km per hour (186 miles per hour), meaning that the journey time between Folkstone/Kent and Calais to be around 35 minutes. http://www.eurotunnel.com/build/

Eurostar trains

Our bus in the Train

All we see for 40min

London!!!

Westminster Palace, Elizabeth Tower, Houses of Parliament, Big Ben, Westminster Abbey, London Eye, The Underground, King's Cross Station, Platform 9 3/4, St. Pancras Station, The Meeting Place, Oxford Street, Piccadilly Circus, The Shard, Tower Bridge, Tower of London, Buckingham Palace, Changing of the Guard, Greenwich Observatory, Stonehenge, Olympic Statdium, Abbey Road, Trafalgar Square, Nelson's Column, St. Paul's Cathedral, ........

Here is a video of Charlie McDonnell, someone who makes youtube videos, going around to 10 London landmarks in under 2 hours. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2hDOeHPQRcQ

There is a lot to see in London and to try and fit it all into 2 days was difficult. We booked tickets in advance for the London Eye and Tower of London to make sure we got to do them, and I highly recommend doing so to save a little money. We were there off normal tourist season, and during the week so it's hard to judge if it saves you time in line.

As soon as we arrived at Victoria Station, we bought our day travel passes and headed for Westminster. 

The Underground

Traveling by London's metro or Underground system is very useful and very easy. It is the oldest underground railway network in the world. For £7, you can use the underground or "tube" and double decker buses all day within zones 1 and 2. We used this a lot, because it truly gets you anywhere you need to get in the City of London. 

Westminster

Palace of Westminster

The Palace of Westminster is the meeting place of the House of Commons and the House of Lords, the two houses of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. Commonly known as the Houses of Parliament after its tenants, the Palace lies on the Middlesex bank of the River Thames in the City of Westminster, in central London.

Elizabeth Tower

Most people refer to the Clock Tower attached to The Palace of Westminster as Big Ben, however Big Ben is just the name of the main bell in the tower. The tower, as of September 2012, is now known as Elizabeth Tower. *See link posted at end of part 2 post to hear Big Ben ring in our little video of our London trip*

House of Lords end of Westminster Palace

Victoria Tower

Me with Victoria Tower

Me with Elizabeth Tower

Westminster Abbey

The Collegiate Church of St Peter at Westminster, popularly known as Westminster Abbey, is a large, mainly Gothic church. It is the traditional place of coronation and burial site for English, later British and later still (and currently) monarchs of the Commonwealth realms. Now it may just be me, but the western entrance of the abbey looks like a miniature version of Notre Dame. And since you had to pay to go in, we just have photos of the outside.

London Eye

The London Eye is a giant ferris wheel along the south bank of the River Thames. The entire structure is 443ft tall and the wheel has a diameter of 394 feet. It is the tallest ferris wheel in Europe and the before 2006 it was the tallest in the World. It has 32 capsules that hold about 25 people each. It takes about 30 minutes for a full rotation, only stopping to assist handicapped or elderly people aboard. 

It was a little disappointing that it was suppose to be nice out and not foggy and rainy the day we went, but hey that's London weather for ya...And despite that, the ride was still nice and the views didn't let us down.

King's Cross

King’s Cross Station is a major railway station in central London. It is one of 18 UK stations managed by the Network Rail. Immediately to the west across the street is St. Pancras International. The two stations are operated completely separately, but since they are adjacent they are regarded as a single complex. For all the Harry Potter fans out there, ahem Shaunna, I will be posting a mini separate post on it since I found a butt-load of information on this place. 

King's Cross

 St. Pancras Station

The Meeting Place

At the southern end of the upper level, is a 9 meter (30ft) tall 20 ton bronze statue called The Meeting Place. Designed by the British artist, Paul Day, it is intended to “evoke the romance of travel through the depiction of a couple locked in an amorous embrace.” 

Oxford Street

Oxford Street is Europe's busiest shopping street (approximately 1.5 miles long), and as of 2011 had approximately 300 shops. The street was formerly part of the London-Oxford road which began at Newgate, City of London, and was known as the Oxford Road. 
We walked  the entire length of the street, and even stopped and shopped in a few of the little stores.


Picadilly Circus
Now I know what you may be thinking, why is is called a Circus? When we hear the word circus, we think of The Big Top carnival type, but actually Circus is the Latin word for Circle and so it really is Picadilly Circle. The Circus is particularly known for its video display and neon signs mounted on the corner building on the northern side (somewhat like a very miniature version of Times Square in New York City), as well as the Shaftesbury memorial fountain and statue of an archer popularly known as Eros (sometimes called The Angel of Christian Charity, but intended to be Anteros).