thanksgiving

Thanksgiving has always been one of my favorite concepts for a holiday, with just the right mix of family, friends, reflection, controversy, and great food (even minus the turkey).  None of that religious mumbo jumbo, no gifts that need purchasing, just good company and good food.  Of course, I won't ever forget that year when the mature children (aka stupid stuck up ones) waited to eat until everyone served themselves, which resulted in cold mashed potatoes and microwaved salad... not particularly successful.  This is my third Thanksgiving away from home, but my first not in the States, so my jolly "Happy Thanksgiving!"s at work today (well, the at work part should tell you enough) were met by "oh yeah"s rather than "of course"s.  But not to fret, I have a skype date to Seattle in a few, and I made a pumpkin tart for dinner with the kids tonight, which was really nice.  Who says pumpkin pie can't be dinner? ;)

Dan is coming to visit this weekend, and we're doing a big Thanksgiving dinner with a bunch of the dancers on Sunday night, so hopefully photos and stories to come.  For now, sending love and gratitude around the world to each of you.  I feel so lucky to have the support of my family -- the childhood family and the family that we've created together in each of my different homes -- that's strong enough to make me feel loved and looked after even from across an ocean.  It says a lot for how secure I am in my relationships with my loved ones, that I can pick up and run after adventure because I know that I'll always have a fireplace to come home to curl up in front of.  And the dancing, the dancing, you guys.  It's funny, part of how I describe my experience in NC is by saying that the only reason I found myself in Raleigh was for the dancing, so when the dancing wasn't what I wanted it to be, I had nothing going for it to convince me to stay.  That's not completely true of course, I made some really wonderful friends who I can't wait to see again, and am missing the many meals we ate together, but they were bright spots in a place that didn't hold anything for me.

My experience here is different twice over -- first, I'm in France, the weather is beautiful, I love the city, I can hear my French improving day by day, I have adorable children to come home to when I need a hug, I have a yoga teacher I respect immensely....this city has a weight, it's somewhere that I want to be, and second, the dancing is good.  I'm getting better, I have teachers telling me every day (many times a day) telling me what I need to be working on, and I can throw myself into striving for perfection, and learning interesting choreography with a history and a message and a quality that I've been looking for for a long time.  Normally, it would be hard to justify living 8477 km from home, or even 5996 km from New York City, but this... this is what I want to be doing.  It's a chance to hone my craft, to do something really incredibly well, to master a vocabulary and inspire people and find my voice and what I want to say and how best to share that message, in a beautiful place with lovely new people who I'm really excited about.... So I would like to thank all of you, who love me, for giving me the courage to leave you.  I can't wait to come home to you, and hope at the very least the stories of my adventures will help close the distance in the meantime.  Happy Thanksgiving everyone!