Thanksgiving

Dear Winterites,

Last weekend was Thanksgiving here in Canada, and as I mentioned in my previous post, I had an exciting adventure planned. Together with my roommate, we drove the 3 hours it takes to get to Peterborough where my lifelong compatriot of enough years to lose track of the count lives. Yes, this is the same friend I visited on my move to Ottawa, and it’s fabulous being within a close-ish driving distance. Not that I plan on going out every weekend. Let’s not get crazy.

On Saturday we began things off with a light breakfast. We planned on eating a lot over the course of the weekend, so it was probably best to start with something smaller. Ease us into gluttony, so to speak.

We spent the morning in leisure. My roommate went out for a walk, leaving my compatriot and I to discuss books and writings. She knew of a donut place that had opened recently, so after about 2 hours of getting lost in stimulating conversation, we drove to collect my roommate from her wanderings, and then to collect said donuts.

(Just look at that glorious deliciousness!)

The plan was for my roommate to make some Korean food for us for lunch, and we wanted to make sure our stomachs could accommodate large portions, so we decided to save the donuts for later. It ended up being a Korean/Mennonite mashup as farmer sausage got used as one of the ingredients. Not fully genuine Korean flavouring, but still delicious.

(To the left you will see some of the preparation process, being the slicing of the soft tofu. To the right is the full meal. So yummy. This is one of my favourite Korean meals, and it was fun having it mashed up with some Menno flavouring.)

After we had sufficiently gorged ourselves (you will find that to be a common theme for the weekend), we determined the need to get our metabolisms kicked into gear and headed out to one of the local parks. We walked around enjoying the beautiful colours of the season and taking a wide variety of photos. There was so much to look at and enjoy, and enjoy we did.

One thing I will say for Ontario, autumn is absolutely stunning.

(Look at those gorgeous colours! And, of course, there had to be at least one mushroom picture.)

(Get that balancing act together and share a few laughs along the way.)

(This is probably one of my favourite pics. The panoramic lens gives it a neat perspective.)

(Again, such glorious colouration of the changing leaves. With some fun perspective. And, again, it wouldn't be an adventure with me if I didn't do something dramatic, like being ridiculous about climbing a tree.)

(Sometimes, candid shots are the best ones.)

With the walk complete, it was donut time. Oh, such deliciousness.

Back at my compatriot’s place, personal tasks were seen to (such as homework or writing), and the evening meal was prepared. Since we had been treated to Korean food for lunch, we decided to treat my roommate to a more traditional Mennonite meal for supper. Perogies and farmer sausage is always a favourite of mine but sharing such foods with friends who have never had it before is a great delight.

(As you can see, we like to eat food that is saturated in the blood of our enemies. Kidding, obviously. This is homemade perogies (I won't try writing the German name for it because I will get it wrong), with raspberry sauce and cottage cheese, and the traditional farmer sausage. Yum, Yum, Yum.)

Funny side note. My roommate had it in her mind that I don’t eat very much. And though it’s true that I don’t eat excessive amounts when I’m on a tight budget, I am fully capable of shocking people by how much I can consume. She was quite surprised that I could eat a lot more than her. What can I say? I do my best to burn a lot of energy.

Gotta supply the burning with fuel.

On Sunday I tried to sleep in. My fiendish body determined that would not be happening. But I spited it by lounging in bed as long as possible.

This day had been planned to be our Thanksgiving Day. As such, we determined that breakfast and lunch would be abandoned and replaced with brunch. I was on waffle duty while my compatriot fried the bacon. Once again, we gorged ourselves.

(Yet another meal featuring the congealed blood of our enemies. We apparently had lots. Waffles with raspberry sauce and the classic white sauce. And bacon. Just . . . *chef's kiss. And the waffles are cute little characters, for those who are wondering why they don't look like traditional waffles.)

And once again, we took to the great outdoors to walk it off.

(I love the look of the reflection of the trees in the water.)

(Quietly enjoying my seat, and again, the panoramic lens magic.)

(I saw this pumpkin and it was just too adorable! I had to take a picture. And once more, it wouldn't be a hike with me if there wasn't something random and ridiculous. Just me practicing my lounging modelling pose.)

(Below is a bonus video captured and commentated by my compatriot. "This is my spirit trying and failing to leave my body," I told her after she had cut her recording.)

We had such beautiful weather for being outdoors, I could have stayed there for much longer than we did. But, another meal eventually summoned us! Well, actually, we gave ourselves a time limit because the turkey could not be left unattended for too long. Thanksgiving dinners are massive undertakings, and we were determined to include all the fixings. So, our outdoor adventure come to its close and we headed back to tackle the turkey. Not physically, though that could have been humorous. I’ve never tackled a turkey before, but I’ve been told they can be mean so, I don’t think that’s something I’ll ever attempt in my lifetime.

(Overall view of the meal.)

So. Much. FOOD! Seriously, how am I not fat after all this? We definitely ate ourselves full to bursting. Naturally, to help the process of falling into a food coma, we decided to wind up the day with a movie. We chose something laughable to help engage our cores for the digestive process. That is totally legit, okay!? Laughter was our workout!

Oh, and we ate pie for night snack. You know, top of the day.

After two days of eating more food than I have consumed in the last 2 months, Monday was allowed to be a lazier day. We walked around the neighbourhood because the weather was too lovely not to, then ate a more leisurely meal while watching another movie. That wrapped up our time in Peterborough, and the Thanksgiving adventure.

But it was not over. Oh no. It’s never over. The story always continues even after THE END.

At 4:15 we began the drive back. We had lovely scenery until the sunset, and by then we had nearly reached Ottawa. Once in the city, I missed a few turns, took a couple wrong turns, but eventually got us to the drop off location of the vehicle in Quebec. Phew. Good thing I don’t really stress about such things, but I’m also not the fondest of driving in a new place in a vehicle that doesn’t belong to me after dark. Not an ideal situation.

Our plan was to catch a bus back to school, which would be about a 2 hour journey. Neither of us were looking forward to that, especially not with it being dark out. The guy from whom we rented the vehicle agreed to Uber us back to our dorm, and even generously charged us a lesser fee. Thus, we finished the trip with thankfulness. A fitting conclusion to Thanksgiving weekend.

Tuesday was back to classes. Our classroom was locked because of the long weekend, and so we started the school week by waiting for security to let us in.

Our task this week is a blade of grass waving back and forth as though in a breeze. It’s also essentially our mid-term exam, so we’re taking the next two weeks to learn this skill.

But I’ll leave that for another entry.