Sturgis-bound for Thanksgiving 2012

By far one of the best things about being in one's mother country is being able to celebrate holidays in all the traditional manners without the difficulty of tracking down ingredients for all your favorite dishes and being reminded of just how far you truly are from family. However, don't let these statements convince you that the Harringtons have lost their fondness and love for the land of kimchi or that celebrating Thanksgivings 2010 and 2011 in South Korea weren't absolutely beautiful and memorable, no, not at all. It's just, in the challenge of re-adjusting to the mother land, the holidays provide a kind of stability and sense of home the Harringtons are reaching for. Not to mention, turkey!

With great swiftness, the Harringtons packed up and loaded the car as soon as school was released on  the Tuesday before Thanksgiving. They made the five hour drive to South Dakota discovering that the new Subaru, while boasting seat warmers, failed to play CD's or anything other than radio and cassettes, fortunately, the Harringtons have a love for the radio and were content to make the drive sans Dan Walker and Jalan Crossland (although, the couple is quite fond of both artists...)

Upon arrival in Sturgis, the couple was greeted with warm hugs, a warm fire and a warm bed - can't get much better or warmer than that!

Typical to their South Dakota visits the long weekend was spent lazing around on computers, with noses in books, snacking on cheese and crackers (and eventually Thanksgiving leftovers) and hitting the slots in Deadwood.

Additional highlights centered around the view from the living room couch, especially as the sun set, the deer (and or turkeys...ironic, eh?) came out to play and Lady Annyeong had her first experiences romping around the great 'Black Hills'(aka: her grandma and grandpa's yard). The holiday itself featured the bird of the season, turkey, as well as mom's famous Twice-Baked Potatoes, Luella's famous Spinach and Tortellini Salad, Cranberry Salsa, and Pie Inspired Tortes. The holiday ended with a long-running, laughter-enducing round of Redneck Life.

As with all vacations and holidays, the time soon came to that inevitable point where the car must be re-loaded and find it's way back to the highway it came in on and take you home, filled with joy and good food and hope for the next family event.