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"What lies behind us and what lies before us are tiny matters compared to what lies within us." -Morrow
"Take care of the minutes, and the hours and years will take care of themselves." -Anonymous
"Love doesn't make the world go round. Love is what makes the ride worthwhile." -F.P. Jones

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2003-11-30
Packin' heat like an oven door

5:02 p.m.

Yesterday we held American Thanksgiving, and in true American style, all of the Americans were late, and to no surprise of yours, I'm sure, yours truly was especially so. In fact, Cian even called me and (only half-jokingly) asked if this was some practical joke on the part of the Americans because several Europeans had arrived around 2 PM but there was no sign of anyone from across the pond. Eventually, people showed up and started eating while Chris, Nicole, and I were waiting for the turkey to finish cooking since we'd gotten a bit of a late start on it. However, it turned out perfect despite the fact that we a) had no thermometer, b) were not sure of the exact weight of the turkey (somewhere between 4 and 5 kilos), c) Chris and Nicole's oven doesn't even have degrees, only a numbering system from 1-10 (which we set on 6), and d) none of us had ever cooked a turkey before without the presence of an experienced person. We didn't have any twine or anything except the rubber band that came with the bird, so Chris came up with an ingenious way of somewhat closing up the cavities. Whatever, it worked. We even had actual dressing to stuff the turkey with, donated by Nick from a package that he had received from the US, which was good because we couldn't find anything resembling it here.

While I'm on the subject of things that are not here, if anyone is sending me a package, include egg nog mix. So far, it hasn't shown up here and I miss it. Mark says that in Canada, where everything has to be in English and French, it's called "jus de poulet" which directly translates into "chicken juice". Hmmm. Maybe that's why it's not as popular. But then, they eat horses over here.

When they got the turkey, Chris said that it still had a couple feathers on it, and while it had been cleaned out, it wasn't done very well and he was still pulling out bits of innards. Yuck. I don't mind handling and cooking the giblets, but I like the US method of putting them in a little bag inside the cavity (the only things inside the turkey was what Chris pulled out; they didn't put it in a nice little bag for us). Removing them myself, however, I wouldn't like that very much. Maybe it's because when they're in the bag, I can sort of ignore the fact of what they really are. I don't know. Just one of the many ways in which I am weird.

Chris and Nicole basted the turkey with not only its juices, but a little red wine as well, and it gave the meat and the resulting gravy a nice flavor. Nicole also made an artichoke dip (which did not make it to the party), peach cobbler, sweet potatoes, and fudge. I made a chocolate pecan pie which, although gooey, was apparently good enough to generate some more marraige proposals. I tried to make a pumpkin pie, but the recipe I used wasn't very good and I threw the batter out. It was funny because it was a day of little mishaps; my pie, the delay with the turkey, and when Nicole tried to make whipped cream, it somehow separated instead and turned into butter and milk. Really; the stuff actually tasted like butter. However, the turkey came out well, and that was the most important part.

After the feast, about 15 people took off to go to a hockey game. (I guess that I should mention that in Thanksgiving tradition, there was a football game going on beforehand, and even afterwards, although, as many found out, stuffing yourself and then running around makes for quite a stomachache.) Olivier, who works at Soci�t� General and set up the bank accounts for most of the students here, is on a local Division 2 team and gave Brooke tickets for us to come watch his game yesterday. Chris, Nicole, Nicole's cousin Phil, and I stayed to help clean up because we'd come so late, so we were about an hour late to the game, but they were only halfway through the second period so we still got to see a lot. Whenever Olivier was in the game, we cheered and held up the signs that Brooke & co. had made. I doubt that he will ever let us come to another one of his games. =) It was pretty much a rout; his team won by a score of 11-2.

Between the second and third periods, Will, Ruey, Munir, Fabio, and I went exploring a little. Will and then Fabio stepped onto the ice while the zamboni was going around and Munir tried to push Fabio further out, but ended up slipping and falling down. It was quite funny. Then, Will, like an excited little kid, found an extra zamboni so nothing would do except to have his picture taken on the zamboni. Ruey and I then had our pictures taken.

After the game, Mark dared Ruey to run across the ice and touch the wall on the other side for a Euro. Kelly said that she would do it for 5, and she did. She was wearing a skirt and Birkenstocks with a whole in the heel and it was amusing to watch her shlepping across the ice. Ruey went to, and fell on the way back. A lady came by and scolded us for it, but it was hilarious. Crazy students!!! Can't take us anywhere.

After that, we walked through the March�e de No�l (Christmas Market) that's up and running in front of my flat, as well as other places around Centre Ville. They are now selling vin chaud or gl�hwein or hot wine. It is so good! It's basically hot red wine (alhtough we did see some white) with spices and oranges. A couple of years ago in San Diego, there were some German girls who made something similar, only in addition to the above, they piled sugar cubes on top of knives laid across the pot of steaming spiced wine and then lit a pitcher of rum on fire and poured it over the sugar cubes so that the carmelized sugar then dripped down into the wine. It was incredible, and that was even before I liked red wine! Anyway, the spiced wine sold here ias still really good. They also sell hot orange juice with honey which is quite excellent, too, and a lot more rational to bring into school in the morning than the wine, as tempting as that is. I'm not sure how I feel about them selling it right outside my flat. This could be quite dangerous.

The market is incredible. Anyone have requests? They sell everything. It's a month-long festival devoted to Christmas and shopping. The gingerbread-style houses are decked with holly, piled almost on top of each other, are open on Sunday and the number of people is staggering. There are a TON of tourists here; I'm hearing so much more English than I did before, as well as a jumble of other languages. There is even an ice rink set up in the parking lot next to the Cathedral. (Speaking of which, there was one shop that was selling Dickens Village-like ceramic Strasbourg-style houses, including one of the Cathedral, except that the bell tower was on the wrong side!) The streets are lined every 10-20 feet with pine trees, and strands of lights criss-cross overhead. Strasbourg goes all out for Christmas. The only place in the US that I've been that even comes remotely close is San Francisco, but that's sort of like saying that Lake Tahoe is comparable to the Pacific Ocean. I'm not exaggerating.

Brownie points for me: Kelly just asked me what a word was in German and I knew it! Yay me.

This morning, I actually went for a run. I ran from my flat to school, which, although I don't know the actual distance, is probably close to 10 kilometers. I say that because I can run/walk a 5K in about 35 minutes (Sarah finally broke 30; props to Sarah!) and I did it in just over an hour. Of course, I didn't run the entire way, but probably about two-thirds which is pretty good. Once here, I had some food left over from yesterday, thereby unding all of the good from the run.

Alright, as usual, I've written a novel, but I try to paint as accurate a picture as possible. This next week is going to be insane. Monday we have lectures on remote sensing and crew selection criteria, French, and then an "optional" lecture titled "Experimental Studies of Europa and Titan" which may be optional for TP1, and I'd be surprised if anyone from that team actually showed up, but is definitely not for us. Tuesday is more remote sensing, then business shtuff, including a workshop. Wednesday, still more remote sensing, crewed missions, and our second TP status review. The Literature Review submissions are due to me on that day, too, which means my life for the following week is going to be H-E-double hockey sticks (random tangent: Hell on Earth does exist; it's a city in Norway). Thursday is an IT workshop, and then Friday we are traveling to Luxembourg for our second professional visit. This time, to SES Global. Whew!!!

Tonight, I am going to go over and finish watching The Two Towers with Mark. We started it on Friday, but only made it halfway through. This is the extended version, and it's like a whole other movie was included as the thing is nearly four hours. That's okay, however, because I love these movies and am really looking forward to the third one, which, fortunately, is also coming out over here on December 17th at the English theater. Brooke, on the other hand, hates them and can't understand how we can sit for hours and watch them.

So, au revoir, mes amis. Bon soir!

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