Homesick for the holidays

PARIS – It’s finally happened. I’m totally and completely homesick. I thought I could ward off whatever feelings that might lead to it, but this time there’s no denying it.

The truth is, I want to drive a car and go through a drive-through and sit on the couch watching English television until I can feel myself rotting. And there is no amount of Gilmore Girls episodes that can change that.

I’m not really sure what brought it on. One minute I’m walking through the Sunday morning farmers’ market buying some cheese to go with my fresh olives, and the next I’m eating Kit Kats and drinking Coke while trying to watch every American TV show I can find online.

It’s not like I had some horrible off-putting experience that made me want to find some ruby slippers and crawl under the covers.

But it is that time of the year again. The holiday season is here, and it’s hard to think about how this Thanksgiving (my favorite holiday), I won’t be able to see the Macy’s Day Parade or cook my second annual Thanksgiving for all my friends at home.

At some point in October, everyone in Europe had already delved straight into Christmas. The preemptive holidays don’t exist, making the Christmas season here twice as long, and they are probably twice as happy to see it pass. But think of the amount of money Europeans are saving by not having to buy all the kitschy Halloween- and Thanksgiving-themed decorations. Not to mention that’s less time they have to spend tolerating distant relatives.

Unfortunately, being here during the holiday season makes me miss my traditions back home. Luckily, I will be in Amsterdam for Thanksgiving, and I have a feeling I’ll have a lot to distract me from what I’m missing back home.

Until then, I’ll just have to deal with my homesickness until it passes. I feel a Gilmore Girls marathon coming on.