The first time Sonia and I talked about Thanksgiving a couple of months ago, I told her about the traditional dishes that people served – turkey, stuffing, mashed potatoes, sweet potatoes, green bean casserole, cranberry sauce, pumpkin pie, and so forth. When I told her that people usually cooked a pretty big turkey for the holiday meal – somewhere between 12 and 20 pounds – she was astonished.
Then she commented, “That’s why Americans have such big ovens, right?” I laughed a little and then said that was as good an explanation as any. She went on to comment about how everything is big in America – ovens, refrigerators, washing machines, kitchens, televisions, bedrooms, beds, houses, cars.
During our recent trip to England in September of this year, I became more aware of Americans’ fixation on size. The places we stayed were generally small, and the ovens and refrigerators were also small. If the house had a washer, it was a washer/dryer and it was small. The bedrooms were small and the beds were small. The cars were small – no SUVs or pickup trucks for the most part. The TVs in the places we stayed were small – but so were the TVs in the public spaces like pubs and bars.
Everything seemed small, but it was big enough. When we came back home, everything seemed too big for a while.
When Sonia and her daughter came to our house for Thanksgiving last week, I needed to check the turkey before we went out for our visit to Jamestown. Sonia gasped when I opened the oven door to reveal the 20-pound turkey inside. She took a picture of it and called her daughter to “come see!” She took a video when I inserted the meat thermometer to see how the turkey was doing.
Sonia couldn’t stop laughing at my turkey.
We had a great time on Thanksgiving Day. We went to Jamestown and walked around the fort, the native Powhatan village, and the three ships that brought the original settlers to the colony (all replicas, of course). They both seemed to like the food back at our house and we all just had a nice time together. Sonia’s daughter gnawed on a turkey leg and enjoyed it immensely.
When I see Sonia this week, I’m going to take her daughter the second turkey leg. I’m also going to take Sonia the wishbone from the turkey and tell her about that tradition as well. We’ll pull the wishbone and make a wish. I know what Sonia’s wish will be – to be settled in A-mer-i-ca (with all of its big everything), get a job, and see her children thrive.
Funny and touching. Bathroom sinks. I've never seen a decently-sized bathroom sink in England. So says this American.