Columns, Opinion

OOMMEN: Express Thanksgiving

This was my first American Thanksgiving and it didn’t go the way I’d imagined, since I ended up celebrating it a day early.

Last Tuesday, my sister picked me up from Warren Towers. She warned me I’d be spending most of Thanksgiving alone in her apartment in Cambridge, since she has a very busy schedule. (Thanks for taking me in, sis!) I could have visited family in other states, but because of last minute planning I really had nowhere else to go.

After dinner, we drove to her apartment, and I realized my backpack was missing. While we were at the restaurant, someone had managed to get into the car and steal my backpack, in which were stored my most valuable possessions, i.e. my brand new MacBook and my dorm key.  After reporting the theft at the nearest police station, we got home and I thought back to the time I brought my new laptop home and took extra care of it, like it was my baby. Naturally, I couldn’t stop thinking about all the memories, pictures and videos of me and my friends on my iPhone — graduation and other senior moments, our last summers together and clips of us singing and dancing — they were now in the hands of some creep.

I then began to wonder if this was a sign that I wasn’t thankful enough.

To lighten the mood, my sister and I, avid Modern Family fans, remembered the “Express Christmas” episode where the dysfunctional family celebrated Christmas early because of their busy schedules. So, on Wednesday, we each had a little chicken on our plate instead of turkey, and Thursday wasn’t Black Friday but we went shopping anyway!

It’s Sunday night as I write this on my sister’s laptop, which she kindly gave to me. I’m lounging in a living room with dim lights and Christmas music playing. Thanksgiving wasn’t what I expected, but it dawned on me that I’d be back in my cold dorm room the next day with a French presentation at noon and a math test and a writing assignment the following days. And then I was glad that I didn’t enjoy myself too much this week or else returning to school would be a nightmare. Although, losing my stuff right before finals was just unfortunate and unnecessary,

winter break should make up for the traumatic ups and downs of my super weird Thanksgiving. Although, once again my holiday won’t be completely traditional — I won’t be “white” since I’m going back to my home in the United Arab Emirates. But more importantly it will have a warm and welcoming home full of Christmas decorations and food and the chatter of family and friends. Then again, if snow does fall there on Christmas morning (wishful thinking), I’ll have to write about that and how I keep experiencing the weirdest holiday moments!

Rhea Oommen is a freshman in the College of Arts and Sciences and a weekly columnist for the Daily Free Press. She can be reached at rheao@bu.edu.

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