17 Hours of Giving Thanks
A new take on what has become tradition
Du kannst das - you can do it!
With the last few leaves barely managing to hang on to branches and temperatures beginning to drop below freezing, I’m reminded that the year is ending. What was to be a bright and exciting year full of adventure and potential turned out to be just that. But as with all things in life, 2024 must end. That end is surely soon upon us. Soon, but not yet. For we still have merriment to make and good friends to toast.
With this being my second year in Hamburg for Thanksgiving Giving Thanks, I wanted to try something a little different. Instead of writing my recap of the holiday in one fell swoop while enjoying the delightful daze that accompanies a day of feasting, I’ve decided to give a play-by-play of our celebration. At the onset of this, I really have no idea what this is going to look like. But, my goal is to try and write something down as close to hourly, and then do minimal editing afterwards. Raw and chaotic is just the energy I expect around the holidays.
So whether I churn out something emotive and personal or scattered and vapid, I hope it’s worth your time reading. Happy holidays, and thank you.
7:00 -
An alarm goes off in the flat, and I’m pulled reluctantly from sleep. I check the time and realize I can afford to rest another hour. As I slowly return to my pleasant dreams in the warm embrace of the soft duvet, sleep nearly loses the battle to excitement. Today’s the day, Giving Thanks is upon us. Everything goes dark.
8:12 -
I’m waking up and taking stock. Everything is calm, everything is quiet. Not much of anything seems to have happened over night. As I’m throwing off protective piles of bedding to be assaulted by the cold air, I happen to glance out the window. I pause. It’s happened: the first snow has settled on Hamburg! While it’s merely this morning’s glory, likely to be melted before the next dusk arrives over the city, the magic is real. Rooftops adorned with snowy shawls and bushes blanketed. Nothing looks quite so nice. I stumble towards the kitchen for coffee, I sketch a list of what’s to be done yet.
9:00 -
Finishing off the last of my breakfast: buttered dark bread smothered in hummus with a piece of Camembert on top. In two hours my friend Zofia will come over to prepare her dish for the feast. I think we’re making hasselback sweet potatoes, but I’ve no real idea. I’m just looking forward to toiling away the early day in the kitchen with a good friend. My coffee is nearly gone, which means it’s time to head down the way to pick up a few last minute holiday essentials.
cranberries
citrus(?)
red wine(?)
sekt(!)
10:02 -
Back from the store, back to work. What was a beautiful morning, a glimpse of a winter wonderland, has become an unforgiving slop. The city wasn’t prepared for the few flakes we got, and so the city walks and streets are all chocked in slush. I live only two blocks from the grocery store, but even that little bit was enough to soak my socks. But that’s only a trifling mater - the important thing is I got my cranberries. I decided to skip the red wine and instead grab another bottle of sekt. I figured it would be more fun if everyone could toast with some bubbly. Plus it’s a belated birthday present for a friend, a friend that I’m hoping is still willing to give me access to his family cottage up in Denmark.
With my foodstuffs in hand I’ve gotta hustle around the flat cleaning. I’m not used to people coming over, so my nest has become disheveled. I’ll tidy up and prepare the kitchen to escape the judging eye of Virginia.
11:05 -
My room has been tidied, the kitchen is swept and the dishwasher was loaded. All that’s left to do is cook. Zofia’s running a little late, which means everything is happening right on schedule. While I was cleaning I had a podcast playing in the background. The guest has an education in art, and goes around researching the cultural estuaries of yesterday and tomorrow. He said something that struck a particular chord with me today. The legacy institutions, the academies and think tanks, do really good work. But they can’t expect the world to care about their niche area of speciality just because they have a decade of training in that field. The onus is on us as researchers to give society a reason to care. Another tally toward making a career pivot.
12:11 -
I get really defensive when my friends tease me about my limited pantry, but I hate to admit that there’s some validity to their criticisms. My cooking skills are not finely developed. And while I stand by the efficiency of cooking as infrequently as possible and instead getting as many of my calories from the subsidized university food as I can, a kitchen filled with mediocre chefs is hardly a kitchen at all.
Zofia and I are trying to make hasselback sweet potatoes, and the level of uncertainty with each step we take is comical. That’s without even mentioning the clumsiness with which I made my cranberry sauce. In my defense: I’m in an unfamiliar kitchen trying to convert units and roughly estimate, but still. The only dish I’ve ever contributed to Thanksgiving is cranberries. I’ve been making them (with help) my entire life. How can I still be so inept?
So far we haven’t lost any fingers, but there’s been at least one near miss.
1:38 -
Running late on this update because shit has started hitting the fan. Zofia had to run out and buy more sweet potatoes, we’re scrambling to create the cheese sauce in time to cook the dish through, and we have no idea how we’re going to get this across town when it’s fresh out of the oven. I’m trying to keep a cool head for Zofia, but we have just over two hours until we HAVE to walk out the door, so time is running out. Back to work.
2:28 -
The hasselback is FINALLY in the oven. We’re racing against the clock, but everything should just about work out. It’s been really fun to work all afternoon with Zofia, and I can’t wait to see how this turns out. The creamy cheese sauce we made is phenomenal.
Cooking has been a very warming experience. I feel like we’ve bonded over this kitchen table. She’s been sharing a lot about how she’s been during this breakup, and it has helped me reflect on how I was doing a year ago through my own. One of my current angles of self improvement is being more open with my friends and letting them have a more permanent spot in my life. It shouldn’t have taken me 23 years to get to that place, but better late than never.
3:23 -
Okay so the good news is that the potatoes will probably be done cooking by four. Hopefully. The bad news is that, in order to be on time to the party, we have to leave exactly at four… which means we’ll be lugging around a piping hot pan of cheesy potatoes. So the current plan is to put the hot pan on top of a baking sheet, and then carry that on to the subway. We only need to go three stops, so nothing bad can happen. Right?
4:18 -
We are in transportation mode: on the subway with the hot, hot, HOT potatoes. Cole is holdin’ down the fort on those. Hannah and I are smelling the potatoes walking a few feet behind Cole at all times so we can smell those sweet, sweet, SWEET potatoes.
(contribution from Zofia)
5:26 -
Doing thankfulness, running late, missing Maraike. Trying not to cry.
6:53 -
Feeling very warm surrounded by loved ones. We arrrggh. Clearing up the mess I personally facilitated on purpose. Seeing my Feuerzangenbowle peering especially vibrant. With unlimited envy, those delicious pull-up bars. RESIST! My urges.
(A collaborative writing exercise from myself, Zofia and Hannah)
7:00 -
Dinner has been going great! I just got hit in the head with a bottle cap, after I wanted to take a picture of how Germans open bottles with just about anything they can get their hands on.
Food has been amazing, from lentil loaf with cranberry sauce, over mashed potatoes, sweet potatoes, veggies, bread all the way to some Glintwine - we had it all. Now I am just really looking forward to the delicious pies for desert, especially the pumpkin pie, that my awesome friend Helge brought.
I'll be back with more insights in an hour, lots of love, Cole.
(contribution from Helge)
8:20 -
Antonia just hugged me goodbye. Her and her boyfriend have a concert they’ve gotta go to. Nobody else seems to be in a rush to get out of here. Another pot of Glühwein has just been brought out, and we’re well in to our pies now.
Festive. Festive is the word for the evening. My friend Hannah and I had a chance to chat briefly as the tables were getting cleared. She remarked on how remarkably festive the night has been. She’s right. It’s a cold and snowy day in Hamburg, and the sun was setting by 4pm. We’ve stuffed our friends around half a dozen tables, stolen all the chairs and silverware we could get our hands on, ands staved off the wintertime blues with festivities.
Also Una and Merle want to say hi!
9:11 -
I’m dealing with the ramifications that I’ve a split personality. No longer am I one man with one home, but two men, two homes. In America I’m reverend Coleman Gregory Simon, but here in Hamburg I’m Rabbi Nicolaj Abraham Simon Goldstein.
Otherwise, Life is good! I just had cake :-)
10:11 -
A friend of mine just asked me if I’m aware that sometimes I’m emotionally and socially overwhelming. That gave me pause and a reason to laugh. I told her yes, I am aware and that I believe that it’s by design.
Tonight I’m surrounded by good friends.
Tonight I’m surrounded by a community.
I feel like I spent a long time trying to learn how to be a good socialite. There was a lot of studying, as well as some trial and error in figuring out what made me someone that people wanted to talk to. Along with that, I had an epiphany at some point that I’d rather say “I love you” too soon, rather than too late.
I may be a lot both socially and emotionally, but at least people don’t feel like they’re being frozen out by me.
11:50 -
The hour grows near that Giving Thanks is behind us, yet it’s only a day. A day for us to be mindful of what we’ve valued this last year, and to reaffirm what we want to hold close to our hearts as the solstice and then the ending of ‘24 creeps ever closer. But it’s just a day. A really, really great day.
Tomorrow I’ll wake up. I hope it’s late into the morning, but it doesn’t matter. I will wake, and I will still feel the same love and warmth and gratitude I’ve felt for life today. Just because this day ends doesn’t mean what I’ve built will end.
With Giving Thanks I’ve given thanks to some of the closest friends I’ve ever made. With Giving Thanks I’ve reaffirmed a commitment to celebrating life. With Giving thanks I’ve marked another great year.
Four minutes until tomorrow. Four more minutes to have a great day.
Four minutes until another great one.
Thank you for being with me on this journey over the last year. Having a place to write my thoughts has let me process so many of my experiences in Europe, and having someone to write for encourages me to keep going. If you’ve enjoyed my work, you’re encouraged to refer a friend. By helping this publication grow, you’re pushing me as a writer.