Traditions

On our bike ride home from school last night, Olivier (my 6 year old), asked me about our traditions.  "Mom, what do the English do for Christmas and for the holidays? What customs do we have?"

Olivier is in a French School, with an English Section, for bilingual kids.  The students are mostly Parisian born, with at least one parent having English as their mother tounge.  So, to consider himself "English" at this stage is not too surprising.  "Honey, we speak English," I reminded him, "but mama and papa are not from England.  We met in New York."

"OK," he sighed, so what are our traditions?"  I answered: "We've made up our own."

I've been an expat for most of my life, having lived in 7 cities so far; 4 of which, before I turned 16. As a child, continuity came from knowing that change was iminent. And, security came from knowing that there was another International School to go to.   For me, it was an adventure, and to this day, I feel very lucky.

Immuned to Culture Shock until I turned 20, the places where I feel most foreign, are in Manila, where my parents were born, in San Francisco, where I was born, and in Paris, the place I love and currently call home.

Until this conversation with my son, I assumed that I didn't have any "real" traditions. But, I now  realize that while ours may not be those that TV shows are made for, I have created and taken some Traditions with me.

Seven years into our life here in Paris, and I can say that I feel at home in a "foreign land". And, whenever I feel at home, I create. And so brings us to the birth of this blog. Here, I will share our traditions, and the menus and recipes that celebrate them. I will also highlight any noteworthy feast, which resulted from an epiphany, or was simply a joy to create. May this blog serve as a place for folks to visit, request, comment on, and share  some of the recipes that we've enjoyed together! Didier and I have celebrated a lot over the years pre and post Olivier.  We've made a tradition out of a few, and here are some that I will highlight: NYC Pre Olivier Annual "It's not Didier's Birthday" Paella Party Annual Peking Duck Night Wednesday night Squash (the sport) and Sushi at Floy's 4th of July Fireworks at Red Square Boat days with Pumpernickel Bagels and Egg Salad Dimsum Sunday  Paris Post Olivier Bienvenue chez nous Thanksgiving with a Pan Asian twist Taco Night Tarte Night Cupcake Getogethers Pasta Vongole at Rue Amelot The Thankful list

Thank you to all who have partaken in our Traditions, thus far, and here's looking forward to many more!