Hi! My name is Isabella, and I am a senior studying abroad at Queen Mary, University of London this fall semester. When choosing to study abroad in the fall, it never dawned on me how much I would miss back at home, holidays especially. There are many traditions I knew I would miss, like watching the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day parade on TV, having cinnamon rolls for breakfast, and just spending time with family and friends. It was also difficult not having the week off to prepare for final exams and projects, which is something I have become accustomed to over the past few years. Although I was missing home, I wanted to bring a piece of home to the UK.
As Thanksgiving was approaching, I decided to reach out to some friends I had on campus, many Americans, but also some home students at my exchange university. I orchestrated a whole Thanksgiving dinner for everyone, to not only share my traditions back at home but also have a taste of theirs. I made a spreadsheet with a bunch of Traditional American Thanksgiving items, but also a place where people can add their own traditional foods from home that they would like to share. I signed myself up for stuffing, green bean casserole, cranberry sauce, and dinner rolls, which I was so excited to share.
The next obstacle I faced was finding all the ingredients and supplies I needed to make the meal that I planned. I was able to find most of my ingredients, but I struggled to find canned green beans. When I asked one of my English friends, they said that they’ve never heard of it before. As a result, I bought two portions of fresh ones. I never cooked my own green beans before, but I did my best, and they came pretty close to the consistency of the canned ones, which is what I wanted.
When it came to planning when to eat and start cooking, I looked into everyone’s timetable and which courses they had that day. Luckily, in my timetable, I have Thursdays off, so I started cooking early, at about 2 p.m., because most of my friends had class until 5 p.m.. Additionally, I was trying out new recipes for my food, such as stuffing, as I was trying to accommodate everyone's food preferences and restrictions. Many of my guests were vegetarian or had an allergy to nuts, like myself, or eggs. I also made some of the sides gluten-free, such as the homemade cranberry sauce. I had no idea how long cooking would take, especially in a shared kitchen, but I was able to have the table ready by 6 p.m.
When my friends arrived, we all enjoyed a great meal, shared what we were thankful for that year, and tried many different dishes. We talked about how similar the meal was to a Sunday roast or a roast dinner and their traditions this time of year, since not everyone celebrates Thanksgiving. By the end of the night, everyone was so full, and the next challenge was cleaning up, but working together, it went by quickly. Moments like this make me not miss home so much while being abroad. I shared much of this with my family, getting a bunch of family recipes and advice on how to prepare food so it was still warm in time for dinner. We also exchanged photos from all of our Thanksgiving dinners. It was truly a great day, and I would recommend those who are studying abroad in the fall in the future to do the same!
Isabella Becker Nemerofsky
Fall 2025
GW Exchange - Queen Mary, University of London
Elliott School of International Affairs
International Affairs & Economics Double Major