A Dinner of Realization

Laughter and conversation comfortably crowd the air. Smells of mashed potatoes and corn, chicken, and pumpkin pie boldly waft through the room. Is that a hint of Micheal Buble's Christmas album I hear? Possibly . . .

A Thanksgiving dinner in an American home? No, you would be mistaken. This was my Korean apartment on Sunday, November 25. I hosted my first Thanksgiving dinner - in a country where Thanksgiving is in September and no pilgrims OR Native Americans were involved. That would happen to me. lol

The entire week before the dinner took place the anticipation and excitement built inside of me. On the morning of the dinner, the excitement and anticipation exploded out of me in the form of stress. I was quite a worried woman. I was afraid that things wouldn't turn out well, the food would taste horrible, I wouldn't have things ready in time. Silly me. Why do I always do this to myself? I worry, worry, stress, worry, worry, and worry some more? When will I truly learn that even if things aren't perfect, it's not the end of the world? Life still goes on. People will still eat. Conversation and laughter will still happen. I shake my head at myself sometimes.

The dinner was a huge success (apart from me being extremely tired, having to do all the dishes, and that the next day was Monday which meant a full day of work)! I definitely wouldn't have been able to pull it off without the help of a couple friends who came into the kitchen about 20 minutes early and told me to chill out. This was a necessary gathering for me I realize. As I sat, eating the delectable food on my plate, listening to and joining into the conversation and laughter in my humble abode, I felt so full of love and happiness (as well as food) that I thought I might burst out into song and make the dinner a musical or something. Okay, maybe not quite that extreme, but it was amazing to feel like I had friends and family with me. It feels like I'm really beginning to find my place in this world separate from anything I've ever known. This is not so much life as I don't know it anymore. Yes, there is definitely still a lot I don't know about living here. Yes, I have much to learn - I'm an almost empty vessel waiting to be filled. But I feel like this is beginning to be less like life as I don't know it and more like life as I know it.   Hmmm, I kind of like that. As the awesome character of Stitch might say, "It's good . . . yeah, it's good."