To all my American friends and family - Happy Thanksgiving! Today celebrates the first successful harvest after Pilgrims settled in America and nearly starved their first winter. The next spring Native Americans helped them grow crops suited to the climate - and they flourished. Thanksgiving started to give thanks for the harvest - and cooperation, and friends, and family.

To all my Australian friends and family, Thanksgiving is a great American tradition. Family members travel cross-country to gather together - and eat. The menu is as prolific as it is diverse.  Turkey is usually the centrepiece.  From there it’s anyone’s guess - and everyone’s tradition.  It’s less stressful than Christmas (no gifts) and it’s only about family and close friends (the family your choose!). 

Thanksgiving falls on the fourth Thursday of November.  In New York is the annual Macy’s Day Parade and two or three gridiron football games are played.  Some gather in the kitchen to cook - some gather in front of the television to watch sport.  In early evening everyone gathers to celebrate a great meal - and the wonderful links of family and friendship that enrich our lives. Small cinema captured it well in the film, “Pieces of April.”

 In Sydney it’s a Thursday. The sky is overcast and it’s cool for early summer.  There are no turkeys or cranberry sauces in the markets.  Everyone is at work. It’s as if nothing is different - and that’s the hardest bit about being an expat. 

Save me a plate of turkey and mash, will ya?