This has happened before. It’s tricky to celebrate a Thursday holiday, outside the U.S. — mainly, because it’s a work day outside the U.S.

So, these five consecutive Thanksgiving Days overseas … well, actually, we’ve had a nice Thanksgiving meal before the actual day (2009), and three now (2010-12) after the actual day.

This year, we were invited over to the place of a co-worker in the Abu Dhabi suburbs, and she produced a Thanksgiving meal tonight that was outstanding in every regard.

The crowd:

A German national, a Kazakh, a South African, a Canadian and four Americans.

I don’t know how familiar some of the non-Americans were with the concept, but they seemed as happy with the meal as I was.

Every base was covered, as can be seen from Leah’s plate, above. From the usual (turkey, mashed spuds, two kinds of stuffing, cranberry sauce) to the regional (butternut squash with maple syrup and “Maine whoopy pie,” shown below). OK, one aspect missing: the NFL.

This is a home, too, with a full bar, and not just in the “all sorts of alcohol/full bar sense.” An actual bar, with a long counter, two 6-foot fridges behind it (jammed with varieties of beer and soft drinks) and, I want to say, some neon and a TV tuned to a sports station. Very impressive.

It was quite kind of our host to invite us to dinner, and very nice that everyone waited until I could get there — which was past 8 p.m., after working in the office, to be part of it.

So the takeaway from Thanksgiving overseas is … we’ve never really missed the event. But having it on the day? We’re 0-for-the past-4-years.

Having it within a day or three of the day? Batting 1.000.