Liz's European Adventures: American Thanksgiving in Aarhus!

The day Rachel and I got off the bus from the airport after getting back to Denmark from Spain, we were exhausted. We had very little sleep, had slept in the car the night before, caught a flight around 6am, etc. All we wanted to do was to get back to our apartment and sleep. BUT FIRST...we were starving. So we headed to our favorite sandwich shop right across from the train station called Dee Dee's.

For those of you who know me and know my love of turkey sandwiches, the day I found Dee Dee's, I was in heaven. It is pretty expensive - for a sandwich and soda, ends up being around 50 kroner, or $10USD. That day, I realized why I knew I loved Dee Dee's so much.....

We were waiting in a big line (the place is ALWAYS packed!) when a very cute 40-ish blonde woman turned around and asked us, in Danish, what we wanted. I said, "Um, English please?" She stumbled for a second, and said okay. She started talking to us...it is amazing how over in Europe, you can spot an American by the sound of their voice a mile away. The woman started helping us, and I remember thinking...her English is too good, she has to be American. A few seconds later, she said she was American, and she owned the sandwich shop. BINGO! Now I knew why I loved the place. I told her, "I love this place!" And she said yes, it is modeled after an American sandwich shop, complete with pasta salads, cookies, etc.

Her name is Mary Ann, and she was so sweet. She is from California, fell in love with a Dane, and moved to Denmark. It is also amazing the honesty that comes from someone you just met. She asked us what we were doing here, how long we would be here, what we thought. Everyone always asks us, "Why Denmark?" We told her our reasons...she said she has been here for over 9 years, and cried everyday for 9 years because it was so different.

Mary Ann mentioned to us that there was an American Women's club in Aarhus and that they would be hosting a traditional American Thanksgiving. I was SO excited to hear this! You don't realize how much you miss the little things - shoot, I really missed Halloween even.

We got the info, had to prepare a veggie casserole (yikes, again!) and got picked up by probably a 60 year old couple and rode with them the 40 plus minutes to the location. There were about 50 people there, predominately American women who fell in love with Danish men. Some had kids there, some had grown kids. Rachel and I were the youngest by far, but it was still nice to be in a room full of Americans and find out their stories.

The food was great. Real turkey, mashed potatoes and gravy. Stuffing, cranberries, corn, homemade apple pie and.....pumpkin pie! Pumpkin pie is a luxury, as they don't really do pumpkins here. The women were talking about how when they go home to America, they have to bring back cans of the pumpkin stuff in order to make pie in Denmark.

Sort of shockingly enough, if you asked each of these women individually if they were happy in Denmark, I would say 80% alluded to the fact that they weren't. Don't get me wrong...they loved their husbands and kids, but if they could do it over, they wouldn't have stayed in Denmark.

I love it over here, very much...for now. I have learned so much about myself, gained tolerance for other cultures, and made friends from all over the world. Who knows what will happen in the future. But Denmark and the US are two very different places!

Next American Women's event is a Christmas cookie exchange, so we will probably participate in that!

My plate...looks just like it would if I was back home. Amazing!