Happy (white) Thanksgiving, America! This is a tough day to be abroad, but I'm thankful for my supportive family and for the fact that I have the opportunity to travel and experience another culture. I do miss a good Thanksgiving dinner, though!

Today is, of course, a work day here in Russia, but we Americans will have our celebration on Saturday. We're making a Thanksgiving dinner for ourseleves and the Russian staff of the American Home. This is a tradition that goes back to the start of the AH 22 years ago, but this year's celebration is a bit more complicated because our old Whirlpool oven (imported from America 22 years ago) is on the fritz, so we're making do and doing our baking and turkey roasting at people's apartments. That means we'll have to lug 25 pounds of cooked turkey on the bus--boy, we'll sure be popular people.

I hear the US is having a wintry Thanksgiving, and, as it turns our, we are too. Today we had our first real snowstorm. Here's a view of my neighborhood. In counting my blessings, I'm can say that I'm thankful that I grew up in a beautiful neighborhood of architecturally distinct single-family houses sorrounding a picturesque lake.