Thankful To Not Be Serving Them

I’m an American English teacher in a European country. It’s the Wednesday before Thanksgiving, and I go out for lunch at one of my favorite cafes during a break between classes. While I’m eating, an American couple about my age sits at the table next to me.

Woman: “So, where are we going to get our Thanksgiving turkey dinner?”

Man: “I don’t know. I’m trying to Google it, but I’m not finding any results for good places to go.”

They carry on like this for a while, and against my better judgment, I finally intervene.

Me: “I’m sorry to interrupt, but I’m afraid you won’t find any place in [City] that has an American-style Thanksgiving dinner. You can probably find most of the ingredients in a grocery store to make it yourself if you have a way to do that.”

Man: “We’re here on vacation, so cooking isn’t an option. Why don’t any restaurants have it?”

Me: “Well… [Country] doesn’t celebrate Thanksgiving. That’s pretty much only an American holiday.”

Woman: “Wait… what? That’s so stupid. How can they not celebrate Thanksgiving? That’s so un-American!”

Man: “What about you? You sound American. Where are you going for Thanksgiving dinner?”

Me: “I’m not going anywhere. I’ll video-chat with my family, but other than that, it’s just business as usual over here.”

Man: “How about you cook something up for us, and we’ll come over and celebrate since we seem to be the only three Americans here?”

Me: “No. I have classes all day and other plans at night. In fact, I have to get back to work soon. Nice talking!”

I got up and left before they could say anything else. It was lucky that I didn’t run into them anywhere else the next few days because I really didn’t want to have that conversation again.