Giving thanks in a New City

IT did not occur to me earlier, but I now realize that I was lucky to move to a place where an old friend already lives. A. and I were not in the same groups or barkadas in grade school or high school. We were classmates once or twice. But I guess the fact that we all knew each other and practically grew up with each other has made it easy for us to pick up where we left off and improve from there.

This Thanksgiving holiday I cooked the turkey for A's family and met her other friends and family during a lunchtime party. I met her younger brothers and sisters and their spouses and children. I met her friends who were all very warm and welcoming. I also got to spend time with her kids who are just adorable. G is this endearing 18-month old, huggable and always a joy. K is an intelligent and pilya 6-year-old. I remember spending a lot of time helping out in the kitchen, aside from doing the cooking, because I really wanted to help out with the cleaning and also because I just wanted to keep moving. This is probably a remnant habit from my barista days. I also remember not really wanting to socialize much with her friend's Caucasian husbands. Was I selfish to just want to have an easy day talking to people from my country and speaking my language? I wondered that briefly, but didn't really care much to exert an effort to be magnanimous that day.

In the evening, I we all went to this wonderfully large party, where there was karaoke. On the table were dishes from home I hadn't had since I left in 2004. I had to restrain myself from taking more of my favorites because I knew other guests deserved to have a taste too. But it was so hard!

It occurred to me that if A. were not in Denver, I would have probably been invited by an officemate, or I would probably have flown to Las Vegas. But I was grateful to be part of this particular community through my friend. I know I've been here in the US for quite a while, but this was one of those moments where I fully understood the importance of friends and family in a new city.

The United States will always be primarily a foreign land to me with customs and social norms I am still trying to understand. But it is always nice to have a piece of home with you through friends. Specially those who have known you for a long, long time.