Green Girl Abroad: Ilmajoki Thanksgiving

During our last full week of classes the exchange students had the opportunity to host a farewell dinner for friends and teachers at the Ilamjoki campus. In honor of the season, the Americans decided to make a Thanksgiving meal as a way of sharing a few traditional dishes, a treasured national holiday, and our gratitude for the people who have made us feel at home in a new place for the last few months.

Shopping for our dinner was an event in itself trying to find the ingredients we wanted (many of which were not available, such as canned pumpkin) and portion for 30-35 people. Some sacrifices and substitutions had to be made in order to fit our budget and ambitious dish plan. Turkey is a central piece of the Thanksgiving meal but, as many of us know, it is not cheap and there is an art to cooking it that is rare to perfect in an unfamiliar oven. For these reasons we decided to do chicken drumsticks and pork instead; a practical decision that I think contributed largely to the overall success of our dinner. Instead of pumpkin pie we made sweet potato pie but I swear we could have passed it off as pumpkin! We made a few apple pies, too, a standard American dessert many of our friends were excited to taste.

The day of our Thanksgiving (one week before the real one on November 22^nd) some of us started prepping at 9am peeling apples and drying bread in the oven for stuffing. We assumed a room in the school kitchen at 1pm sharp giving us four hours to cook. Sara was the pie prinsessa (princess in Finnish), Valerie made stuffing, Chase made corn bread and mashed potatoes, Sarah made green beans and carrots, and I prepared the meat. The Czech exchange student, George, was of course included and made Bramborák, tasty garlic potato pancakes to represent his home country. Though this was the basic structure of our dish plan, we all had our fingers in each other’s pies helping gather ingredients, prep, find spices, man the ovens, find food containers and utensils, etc. We were cranking hard the whole four hours cooking our dishes with love and familial influence. Though it was strange cooking in the school kitchen where we didn’t know where anything was, often could not read spice containers, and felt bad for the school cooks who had to work around us, the ladies in the kitchen were incredibly helpful to us. They answered our millions of questions and showed us things we needed all while doing their own work. I have held jobs in the food industry and I have worked in a kitchen; I can’t imagine how challenging it must have been to help six foreign kids cooking Thanksgiving for four hours while trying complete regular work duties. They went above and beyond for us; we cannot thank them enough.

Our teachers and friends gathered promptly at 5pm for our dinner while we scrambled to get everything ready to serve. Before dinner we explained the American Thanksgiving tradition; how the Pilgrims landed on Plymouth rock after a deadly journey over the Atlantic and arrived in the new world without much food or knowledge of the landscape. The Native Americans taught them about the land and how to cultivate crops, helping save them from starvation. (In hindsight, this reminds me of how the school cooks helped save our friends and teachers from hunger by teaching us about their kitchen!) The fourth Thursday of every November is Thanksgiving; a celebration of the harvest and the blessings in life. I thought this a fitting holiday to share in the agricultural region of Southern Ostrobothnia to brighten the shortening days. Word on the town is that Marraskuu (Finnish for November – translates literally to the dead month) is generally a drag. Sometimes it is easy to forget that there is always something to be thankful for.

Dinner was served and it felt so good to recognize how much these people have meant to us during our time in Finland. I must say I’m proud of the exchange students for pulling off this dinner without a hitch. It was not easy but it was truly a team effort that turned out a smashing success. There was plenty to eat and everyone seemed to enjoy their meals. There was even a special performance by two teachers, Juhani and Heikki, who sang a couple Finnish songs that provided wonderful entertainment between dinner and dessert. There was a hilarious song about Marilyn Monroe and another about Finnish farmers feeling nervous talking about love but calm in their fields. I can’t say which I found more interesting. After the songs, we were enlightened with some silly jokes, also in conventional Finnish humor.

As everyone headed home we were a little sad to start our goodbyes but we are confident we will stay in touch with our fresh Finnish roots. I hope some of our friends come to visit California so we can return their hospitality. It would also be great to see our friends and teachers at Cal Poly, perhaps for a few months! One of the most touching moments of the night was having our teachers thank us for dinner but for also teaching them a little during our time together. It was a rewarding day of diligent work, a lighthearted dinner and bittersweet goodbyes that I will never forget.

Over the years it is interesting to see the different things you particularly appreciate on Thanksgiving. Certain things always come to mind such as friends, family, happiness, food, simply being alive… but this year, in Finland, we have a whole new list of things to give thanks for; the wonderful chance we have had to study abroad, the terrific Finns who have helped us adapt in a different place, the enhanced education we are receiving, and the joy in sharing who we are with new friends in a foreign land. I’m also thankful for home in a brand new way. Traveling abroad has been an exciting, eye opening experience but there is no place like home. I have so much love for my family and friends who have stayed in touch with me during my time away. I look forward to being back home over Christmas to catch up and share my trip with them.

To everyone at home.... have a great Thanksgiving! Don't forget to appreciate life and the people in it.