With the holiday season upon us, I know many expats will be far from home. This is a time when it’s all too easy to get caught up in missing your friends and family back home, and wishing you were with them, leading to possible bouts of depression. Especially if you are in a country that doesn’t celebrate a holiday that is traditional for your country, such as Thanksgiving. It can be even harder to find that life continues as normal on a day you’re used to sharing with your family. And, don’t forget the weather! If home is a place where winter is snowy and cold, and you’re someplace in the Southern Hemisphere, then it’s going to feel really strange to find people swimming and walking around in t-shirts, which can make home feel even further away.

However, you also have the choice to see this as a time of discovery, welcoming in new traditions. I have spent Thanksgiving in Paris twice, once with a fellow expat who cooked us a lovely dinner, and another time with friends, dining at a restaurant that had a special Thanksgiving menu. Actually, the restaurant experience was one of those prix-fixe menus with a leg of Turkey that resembled duck confit, and a very French-ified version of mashed potatoes, etc. It was a bizarre blend of home style and gourmet. The wine, of course, was great, and so my friends and I enjoyed each other’s company, and had a good laugh. We chuckled at eating a gourmet version of what is normally a much more informal-tasting meal. Of course, it was wonderful for us to be with each other, and we were grateful that a country that doesn’t even celebrate this holiday, gave us a way to honor it by combining our tradition with theirs.