Thanksgiving!

November found many of us missing our families, American football (if you’re into that type of thing), and traditional American Thanksgiving dinners with our Mom’s homemade pie, cheesecake, green bean casserole, turduckin or what-have-you. Add to that the fact that we were planning to be on our West Coast field trip on Thanksgiving and holiday spirit seemed to have no chance...

Until it was announced that we would in fact be having Thanksgiving after all, a week early, minus football and Moms. Instead everyone made their favorite Thanksgiving dish and we invited some of our Kiwi friends over. For some of them it was their first Thanksgiving EVER.

Some things that Kiwis may have thought were interesting or crazy:

1. The amount of food.
2. Mixing of sweet and savory dishes (this is not common here).
3. The “Turduckin.” The local butcher was thrilled to help Curtis and Tyler figure this one out. Finding out how to debone a turkey, duck and chicken online proved to be a nearly impossible task.
4. Americans dress up for Thanksgiving dinner.
5. Pumpkin pie. Pumpkin here is not something that one makes pie out of.

It turned out to be quite the evening, and resulted in several family recipes being exchanged, except for Stephen’s sister’s cheesecake recipe which he dutifully incinerated as she requested after making the cake.

Note from a Quiet Convent

The Old Convent is quiet this week. Where have all the students gone? Well... I imagine that some of them must be riding a bus through the green rolling hills of the North Island on their way to see Hobbiton. Others could be tramping along on the Kepler Track in the Southern Alps, a few more may be fly-fishing in Nelson, and I suspect that there may be at least one group who is enjoying scenic highways in a crowded campervan. Because, after all this week is TERM BREAK, affectionately known as “Nine-Day,” that being the number of days available for travel and relaxation.

Stories about their adventures will be forthcoming soon enough as they return on Sunday.

Included is a photo of a presentation group seated on their presentation during God & Nature week 1.

Where Can One Find a "Ten Commandment" Costume?

October 30^th was our good friend Stephen’s birthday. He hails from Arizona, attends Westmont and really loves the Bible. Given the proximity of his birthday to Halloween the SLCs figured that a dress up party was in order. Seriously, what better way to celebrate your 22^nd birthday than with a biblical-themed costume party, complete with apple carving, pin-the-tail-on-the sheep, and (completely unrelated to the theme), Cheesecake!

Some notable costumes included:

Courtney Jones (Westmont ’11) – The Holy Bible

Marcel Visser (SLC) – Goliath

Erin Horst (Messiah ’12) – The Burning Bush

Stephen Dickson (Westmont ’10) & Tyler Amy (Waynesburg ’10) – The Ten Commandments

Corey Beals (George Fox University Faculty) – Daniel (having a dream)

Josh Peterson (Westmont ’11) – Mystery

Jo Larson (Messiah ’12) & Sarah Roberts (Westmont ’11) – Salt & Light