Thanksgiving is an American holiday that revolves around a large family meal of fall harvest foods. Photo (cc) flickr user Sultry

My first Thanksgiving in Germany was a small ordeal.  I bought some expensive seitan gyro from the organic grocery store and ate it with a big salad at the little white table in my room with my au pairing host family.  No turkey.  No family gathering.  No pumpkin pie.  None of the traditions that I had grown up with in the United States.  One little old flight across the ocean and there I was surrounded by people who didn’t even know what Thanksgiving was all about.  I explained Thanksgiving to my au pair family, they nodded in interest, and life went on.