Thanksgiving on “The Kwaj”
Thanksgiving on “The Kwaj”
My mother calls the island we are living on “The Kwaj,” which, to me, connotes that there is no place quite like it: It's one of a kind. That it definitely is, blending American military life in a tropical setting with the traditions of island culture, among many other reasons as well. A close friend here (yey, I finally have one!) calls it “The Rock.” Some days that is what it is to me...the small hunk of land where I plant my feet and school my children. Whatever it is, one might want to know how one spends a holiday here. I wondered that myself before a few days ago. I wondered how that would feel, what it would look like.
Thanksgiving here offered the same options as home in terms of celebration, for the most part. Turkeys and the fixin's were ordered in time for a fully stocked grocery store. The bakery even made sure we had a few pies if we felt on the lazy side. Our “Macy's” department store (yes, really called that, and NO, not at ALL the same as back home) offered sales, the Christmas lights were put up in “town,” and the cafeteria offered a wide spread of food, for those of us (including myself) who are saving our cooking efforts for Christmas and wanted to close our eyes and “pretend” we were in a restaurant for the first time in months. My oldest son sucked down about 25 shrimp from the tiger shrimp cocktail bar, and my daughter stuffed herself with a plateful of candied yams, complete with marshmallows, while once and a while pushing around the ham or turkey on her plate for good measure (to fake me out on her attempts to eat it). There were gourmet food options, the likes of which NEVER show up in the grocery store, so many of us opted to forego the traditional food offered and shove brie, smoked gouda, smoked salmon, kahlua cheesecake, etc., into our faces while we had the chance. Differences to note: Families are stringing lights up palm trees to decorate their lawn. After stuffing oneself at the Thanksgiving feast, one could relax on the beach in late November (except for our rainy season now, foiling our plans from time to time). There was no “Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade” at our “Macy's,” and there certainly was no “Black Friday” shopping to be had. No getting up at 5 AM to be at Kohls or Sears to catch that deal on a video camcorder!! No candy canes or Christmas candy out yet to make you forget Thanksgiving was happening. No traffic, no snow, no chilly draft to lure one to the cupboard to make hot cocoa and plunk some fat marshmallows into it.
The night before Thanksgiving (our Thursday night, because we celebrated Thanksgiving on Friday to match up with the States), our chapel offered an ecumenical service, a rare moment to join Catholics and Protestants both in a service of Thanksgiving blessings. There is nothing in the world like being on an American military base for Thanksgiving and hearing soldiers back from deployment to the Middle East—grown men—choke through a moment of sharing thankfulness at being back home with their wives and children. They are thankful for a warm bed, shelter, a sense of normalcy, and, as one soldier put it at the service a few nights ago, the “noisy sounds of his children in his house.” Others testified to being thankful their grown sons made it through two deployments and back. Some children said how grateful they were to have their daddy back. It is sobering to see how they are so thankful for the basics in life...nothing more, nothing less. Just loved ones and safety. I would be completely remiss in talking about Thanksgiving on The Kwaj, The Rock, if I didn't express my own sincere gratitude for those who put their lives at risk and their families hanging in the balance to keep my family and my country safe every single day. Thank you, and God bless you!
The last part of our family's traditional Thanksgiving came a bit later than our usual day-after plan, due to a work day (Mark), a late scuba dive (Mark again), and a uncooperative drill battery to fortify our 14-year-old Christmas tree and keep it standing for just two years more until we get off of The Rock. We decided to put the tree up today instead, with well-rested, cooperative, albeit excited, kids. I include this part because some of you have asked me how I feel about holidays being so far away. I was okay until I realized how difficult it is to predict which “fourth” of your decorations you should send with the movers, and which three-fourths should remain in storage. I did pretty well, considering we have enough ornaments, the tree skirt, the nativity set, and the stockings for all 5 of us, but I realized with a huge lump in my throat, that I forgot the “Lego Advent Set” that my kids have done every year since my oldest was 4 and have come to count on. He doesn't know yet. I don't have the words to tell him. Of course, we have traditional Advent readings on ornaments that hang on the tree, which focus more on the true Christmas story, but to an almost 8-year-old boy so far from home, a Lego disappointment is a sad one. I hope to ease in slowly with that news. As for me, I was doing “okay,” almost pleased with myself that the place looked a little festive, when I looked upon the tree and thought of the many Christmases it has taken us through and how it has come this far to help us enjoy the season this year and the next. I thought of how none of us could have known what a difference a year makes this time last year, how palm trees lit up for Christmas outside my doorstep could feel so strange, how 86 degree temps could make even our California Christmases seem chilly in comparison. But the One who brought us Christmas is still here; He is still with us. And I eagerly anticipate what it is He will show us this year in such a faraway place. I'm sure He wasn't comfortable spending His first night in a manger. Surely I can get over my silly fixations on missing snow and Ben and Jerry disappointments (see below*), can't I? So, stay tuned to hear about celebrating the Savior's birth on The Kwaj. Yes, there will be Santa...scuba suit and all (not kidding at all), but more than that, the Spirit of Christmas is on its way here, as it is back in the States, minus the commercialism of endless, flashy advertisements (none here at all...not in the paper, and not on t.v.). And for my Jewish friends, I think you would be very pleased to know that there is, and apparently will continue to be, more Hanukkah gift wrap than you can possibly need in a year here, but no Christmas paper in sight. Hanukkah is a big deal here as well.
Thanksgiving Blessings to you all!
**Side Note: The Barge of Great Importance arrived this week, and Ben and Jerry's again fills the shelves! I greedily hoarded 8 Coffee Heath Bar Crunch pints to get me through the holidays, only to find that they expired in September! Well, you can't win them all. My gluttony should indeed be rebuked! :)
Sunday, November 25, 2007