So as if my diet of burgers, fries and oily pizza was not enough to cause any self-respecting dietician to turn in their grave (note: this would naturally have to be a dead and buried dietician (ex-dietician?)), I decided to partake in the over-indulgence event that is Thanksgiving. It could just as easily have be called Foodeating- as this is generally all that happens on this day of celebration of pumkin pie and, you guessed it, turkey.
I was eternally grateful when a friend of mine from the Graduate College (the residence in which I reside) extended the invitation for me to join his family in Michigan over this time. Ok, so I invited myself but he and his family were more than welcoming towards adopting this pet South African for the weekend. I was joined by a wolfpack of other equally exotic strays (a French girl and guy, a Belgian girl and a dude from Germany) who were all eagerly anticipating the almost-infamous feasting event. We were all worried that there would not be enough food to go around and our hearts went out to the delightful mom who was all too happy to cook for the said ravenous pack of legal aliens.
The result: an oven cooked bird that, had I not previously enjoyed ostrich boerewors, I would easily have mistaken for a flightless bird of size such as a emu or cassowary. The bird was positively massive and I’m sure it was a mean engineering feat in itself just to fit the thing into the oven. I was left to conclude that this would have been the ideal ingredient for a respectable Turducken (for the unenlightened, a turducken consists of a turkey stuffed with a duck which in turn is stuffed with a chicken and then cooked- said to be the craze in 2010 so lucky readers are able to jump onto this bandwagon early and still look cool! See it pays to read my blog- for more useful insights into upcoming global trends- bribe me with pronutro, rooibos tea and Stellenbosch wines).
What else can I tell you about Michigan? It’s got cool lakes, Emminen is a local and the people are avid game supporters (They play these weird games like football and baseball- I am yet to teach them about sports such as rugby). Also Detroit resembles something like downtown Muizenberg in that it is also going through a bit of a much needed rehabilitation stage. The people are very keen to get the city restored to its former glory but the economic crisis has set this ultimate goal back a bit as Michigan was one of the three states hardest hit by global banking’s inability and ineptness at controlling their credit levels. But Detroit is not all bad- its got a sky rail which feels very futuristic and was great fun for wizzing about the city overlooking views of Canada and the General Motors headquarters. Its also got Emminem- which is apparently a good thing if you’re a 16 year old French schoolgirl, judging by my travel mates inherent infatuation.
Thus, the three days spent in Detroit were great fun and provided a good insight into what Thanksgiving is all about. It is essentially a family day in which you are able to spend time with your friends, neighbours and family without the added stress and pre-date sales propaganda associated with Christmas time. My eternal thanks must be extended to Ryan and the rest of the Jock family for allowing me the opportunity to experience this great event. Thanksgiving definitely gets my stamp of approval (mostly because the pumkin pie was soo good!).
P.S. Remember to drop the phrase: “Turducken is my life!” at least three times a day in front of as many people as possible- just to sound and look cool…
From Bjorn von der Heyden, Our man in Princeton