Holiday Blues

Not so thankful for Thanksgiving: An expat's take on America's quintessentialholiday

The quintessential American holiday and food fest that is Thanksgiving poses a number of dilemmas for foreigners living here, especially any audacious enough to work as freelancers.

I’ve already experienced two Thanksgivings as a British expat. I’m approaching this one with a sense of foreboding (will anyone invite me to a meal?!), and I am prepared for the inevitable abandonment by America whereby I’ll be left twiddling my thumbs as the nation closes down for a cultural event that doesn’t involve me and which I can’t take advantage of — my family is more than 3,000 miles away.

Forget advantages, as a freelance journalist it’s a case of iceberg ahead, captain. I know come Wednesday offices will start to clear, leaving me with a bevy of unanswered phone calls and emails to keep me company over the holiday as I chew my nails and look forlornly at my laptop’s screen, hoping, pleading that some editor takes a peek at an inbox.

If America is happy to put its feet up for a few days, then why the hell shouldn’t I? A little reflection at this juncture of the year might not be such a bad thing.

Does America not realize we freelancers need to keep working to make some bucks to buy Christmas presents for our younger relatives with their angelic faces and pre-Raphaelite curls?

Black Friday? Great. Just let me run out and go crazy with $20 of disposal income in my wallet.

It’s not so much the logistical dilemma than the existential one that’s the rub when it comes to Thanksgiving.

Thanksgiving forces me to confront the fact I’m a long way from the motherland. That there will be no hugs and kisses and back slaps as seen in those amber-hued television adverts for this chump. That, as some cheery soul put it, we all die alone.

I distracted myself from such weighty pronouncements during the last two Thanksgivings when a friend and his wife invited me over. I’ll admit on both occasions I could see the attraction with this Thanksgiving malarkey. I ate like a king, like a few kings, even, losing track of how many helpings I had. There were three choices for dessert, the heat was on, there was booze. My stomach was full, I was snug, I was tipsy. It felt good to be human.

But not this Thanksgiving. They’ve moved to Washington. There’ll be no heat. (I’m cutting back on costs.) There’ll be no multitudinous food courses. I’ll probably mark the day with a defiant British stand, frugally eating baked beans on toast, followed by a strong cup of Yorkshire Tea. God Save the Queen.

I certainly won’t be pleasantly tipsy, because once the melancholy sets in Thursday evening, I’ll likely be sarcastically toasting the Pilgrims’ fine health with particularly strong margaritas until I’m a bitter, lonely drunk. I’ll rail against America’s cruelty before I pass out cursing the same Pilgrims for all the woe they’ve brought on my head.

I suppose it doesn’t have to be that way. I can always go and stand at an intersection holding a cardboard sign: “Will wash dishes for Thanksgiving meal and familial love.” Then again, maybe a simpler solution will present itself and someone will invite me to a meal like the two previous years.

And so what if I can’t go wild on Black Friday? Perhaps I’m taking it all a little too seriously. If America is happy to put its feet up for a few days, then why the hell shouldn’t I? A little reflection at this juncture of the year might not be such a bad thing.

If it hadn’t been for those intrepid pilgrims and the friendly Indians who helped them survive their first winter, I’d never have had my American adventure in the first place: never learned how to make proper margaritas; never driven a cerulean Mustang with the windows rolled down toward a vermilion sun balanced on the horizon; never had my socks blown off by those spirited beauties only fashioned in America.

Hmm, hadn’t thought of all that, or the rest. God, I do love this place. Happy Thanksgiving.

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A+ for Plano

Surprising Dallas suburb makes new list of best college towns in U.S.

Southern Methodist University students at a football game

Southern Methodist University/Facebook

Dallas knows how to show out.

Dallas' spirited neighbor Plano has entered the spotlight as the No. 16 best midsize college town in the U.S., while Dallas ranks among the best largest college towns, a new study by WalletHub has proclaimed.

While Plano might not be thought of as a "college town," it is home to primary campuses of Collin College (Spring Creek Campus and the Courtyard Center); Collin College has an annual enrollment of over 60,000 students. To qualify for the study, a city must have a university or college population of at least 7,500 students.

To determine the best college towns, WalletHub analyzed 415 cities based on their "wallet-friendliness," social environment, and academic and economic opportunities for college graduates. Cities are ranked overall and are sorted into one of three population categories: large, midsize, and small cities.

Several North Texas cities were represented across the three rankings by population, but none ranked higher than Plano. This Dallas suburb ranked as the 54th best college town in the nation overall, and ranks as the third-best college town in Texas.

Out of the three key dimensions, Plano ranked highest for its academic and economic opportunities – landing 25th nationally. This category analyzed Plano's quality of higher education, the earning potential for college graduates, unemployment rates, job growth rates, the share of part-time jobs and median income of part-time workers, and more.

In the remaining two categories for its "social environment" and "wallet friendliness," Plano respectively ranked 223rd and 271st nationwide. The social environment ranking compared the number of students per capita, the share of single people, crime rates, and the number of cafés, breweries, festivals, and shopping centers per capita, among others; the wallet-friendliness category examined local housing costs, student loan debt per person, the adjusted cost of living for young people, and other financial factors.

"As student living expenses can reach over $39,000 per year, it’s important to find the most bang for your buck," the report's author wrote. "Therefore, it’s best to live in a city with a reasonable cost of living, along with good academic and work opportunities. The ideal city should also provide a fun social environment to help students deal with the stress of college."

Dallas ranked as the 35th best large college town in the U.S., and it ranked 108th overall regardless of city size.

This is how the rest of North Texas fared in the report:

Denton – No. 77 overall, No. 23 among midsize cities
Fort Worth – No. 100 overall, No. 31 among large cities
McKinney – No. 110 overall, No. 31 among midsize cities
Richardson – No. 139 overall, No. 57 among small cities
Irving – No. 141 overall, No. 39 among midsize cities
Carrollton – No. 150 overall, No. 42 among midsize cities
Arlington – No. 189 overall, No. 53 among large cities
Grand Prairie – No. 230 overall, No. 71 among midsize cities
Garland – No. 265 overall, No. 83 among midsize cities
Mesquite – No. 317 overall, No. 111 among midsize cities

Other top college towns in Texas
Austin once again topped the list as the No. 1 best college town in America, boosted by the city's wealth of local colleges and universities and the local economy. The Capital City has outshone obvious contenders like Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, and Ann Arbor, Michigan, for five years in a row, and it also tops the large cities list.

According to the report's findings, Austin has the 15th best academic and economic opportunities for college students and graduates, and the 16th best social environment. WalletHub commends Austin for having one of the lowest unemployment rates in the nation and the "34th-best annual job growth rate," while also offering students ample ways to "de-stress after class."

"On top of that, Austin ranks 22nd in the nation for the quality of higher education among more than 400 cities in our study," the report said. "It also has the 112th-cheapest in-state tuition (including room and board), at $34,651 per year."

Four other cities in the Lone Star State appeared on the overall list of America's best college towns: College Station (No. 37), San Antonio (No. 72), Houston (No. 73), and Lubbock (No. 83).

In the rankings by city size, San Antonio ranked as the No. 2 best large college town in Texas and 23rd in the U.S., with Houston right behind as the third-best statewide and 24th nationwide.

San Marcos, a college town between Austin and San Antonio, ranked as the No. 2 best small college town in Texas, and 54th best among the small colleges nationally. In the overall list regardless of city size, San Marcos ranked 132nd nationally.

The top 10 best college towns in America for 2027 are:

No. 1 – Austin
No. 2 – Ann Arbor, Michigan
No. 3 – Charlottesville, Virginia
No. 4 – Raleigh, North Carolina
No. 5 – Atlanta
No. 6 – Tampa, Florida
No. 7 – San Diego
No. 8 – Scottsdale, Arizona
No. 9 – Orlando
No. 10 – Charleston, South Carolina

college towns reports wallethub dallas plano