In my family we have always been big on togetherness and unity, and holidays have always offered a great opportunity to express these values. However, as the years have gone by, my three older siblings have since moved out of the house and into their own. This means that this year at Thanksgiving we weren’t all able to spend it together. Instead, two of my older siblings were able to come over for a small Thanksgiving breakfast, but my oldest sister Hannah was not able to make it.
After our small Thanksgiving get-together Hannah invited me to come over to her boyfriend Danny’s house to join him and his mother Irina for Thanksgiving dinner. At first, being so full and ready to nap from the morning, I hadn’t wanted to get out and do anything, however, she eventually guilt tripped me into accepting the invite. Something to note about my sister’s boyfriend and his family. He was born in Russia and moved to America when he was 7. His mother of course is very tied to the Russian culture as she has lived their for the majority of her life. When I got to their home, I was surprised to see the only food I recognized was the turkey. Every dish there was Russian. There were probably 3 different types of Russian styled salads, including beet salad, crab salad, and some sort of Russian potato salad. There was also some type of soup that Irina had made that was a very popular dish among Russians. It contained both beef and pork, and a lot of different vegetables. It was a really enjoyable time just getting to experience the different culture in a small way. Overall, I was grateful for this unique experience I got to have on Thanksgiving this year, and it was a pleasant change from the normal traditions I was used to.
