Celebrating the holidays away from home

Probably THE MOST challenging thing about moving abroad is realizing that you will inevitably miss out on some big events back home. I’ve been living in Leipzig for only 5 months, and I’ve already missed out on countless weddings, birthdays, holidays, and reunions. This week I was due to miss out on one of my favorite American holidays, Thanksgiving.

For those of you who are unfamiliar, Thanksgiving is a secular holiday to gather together with family and express gratitude for what you have by stuffing your faces with a bountiful feast. While I did miss out on family time, and Craig had to work during the day, we were still able to celebrate in our own way by (me) preparing a mini-feast for a small gathering with friends.

Some of the classic Thanksgiving food items were hard to find in Germany, such as cranberry sauce (but who needs it anyway?), pecans (available, but ridiculously expensive), and canned pumpkin, but we made do with what was available and managed to pull off a hearty harvest-themed dinner.

What was on the menu? 

Baking with Becky: Brownies!

Ever since I arrived in Germany, I have been very curious about products marketed as “American.” For instance, I’ve seen American dressing (I think it’s thousand island?), American peanut butter, American cookies, and American brownies. So I wondered, what is the German take on American foods?

To answer this question, I had to put on my apron.

I came across an innocuous box of brownies adorned with an American flag and decided to test for myself how American they tasted. 

The German movie experience

I have always loved going to the movies, and that hasn’t changed since moving to Germany. Luckily for me, many of the big-name Hollywood movies still make it to Leipzig, several even in the original English! This week they are playing “Die Tribute von Panem” otherwise known as Mockingjay Part 2! (Can you feel my excitement?) The bonus part is that the English-language movies never seem to be full, so there is always a seat, even on opening weekend!

Side note: if you live in Leipzig and want to know when and where these original showings are happening, pop on over to the Leipzig Glocal where every Wednesday they list English and other original language movie showings.

So what is the German movie experience like?