You see, today started like any other day.  I woke up, got a shower, got dressed, and went to the school to teach class.  I went through most of the morning normally — the same way I would any other morning — completely oblivious to the fact that today was Thanksgiving.  Later in the day, when I had a free moment, I decided to check my email and, lo and behold, I had a message from my mom in the States wishing me a “HAPPPYYYYYYY THANKSGIVINGGGG” (I write the phrase in capitals because that’s how she put it in the email).

It wasn’t until I received that email from my mother that I realized that today was Thanksgiving.  It’s funny, really.  Since I’m living in Spain and Thanksgiving isn’t celebrated here, the whole fact that today was the day just “slipped my mind,” so to speak.  Still, my Thanksgiving story does not end there….

After I realized that today was Thanksgiving, I mentioned something about the holiday to my housemates.  Of course, they explained to me that they already knew all about the holiday from watching American movies on TV.  They then proceeded to elaborate further on how the “Americans” wake up very early on Thanksgiving morning to go outside and kill the turkey that they’re going to eat for dinner.  This made me laugh a bit because, despite being an American who has celebrated Thanksgiving pretty much every year of his life, I have never “went outside to kill a turkey.”  I then explained to my housemates that I preferred to buy my turkeys “already dead” from the supermarket and, although it may have been disappointing for them at first, they seemed to accept the new information rather well.

So, to end this post I’d like to remind everyone in the USA to be careful with those axes when they’re killing their turkeys.  After all, we don’t want any accidents, do we?  Happy Thanksgiving to all!

Hasta luego,
–Chris
http://abroadinspain.com

Hasta luego,
–Chris
http://abroadinspain.com

For those who are interested, the address of the site is: http://www.wikitravel.org.

Hasta luego,
–Chris
http://abroadinspain.com

You know, when I signed up to help lead this trip it sounded like fun to me; however, as the departure date approaches, I’m suddenly beginning to realize the magnitude of what I’ve gotten myself into.  Imagine this: four “fun-filled” days in Barcelona (a six-hour bus ride away) with about sixty adolescent Spaniards and only myself and one other teacher to bring “law and order” to the group.  If the long bus ride with sixty students doesn’t make me a little crazy, I’m sure the four days of worrying about someone getting lost or “escaping” from the group or doing some other “bobada” will get me to the “crazy” point and maybe even a little beyond (on a personal note, my goal is to progress from “crazy” to “wacko” and maybe even hit “mildly insane” by the end of the trip). 

Don’t get me wrong, I LOVE my job and would never imagine myself being anything but a teacher.  Yet still I have to ask myself, What was I thinking?  I guess everyone has their moments….

Hasta luego,
–Chris
http://abroadinspain.com

Although I love Spain and am very happy living here, I think I’d probably go a little nuts if I couldn’t express my thoughts somewhere in English and generally interact with people from my own culture from time to time.   This blog lets me do that on a large scale from within the tiny city of Burgos where the total “American” population is probably about five.  This blog also lets me meet a lot of interesting people from around the world — another pretty beneficial thing if I do say so myself. 

Of course, this blog can also make me lose my sanity at times.  Running a successful blog is almost like running a business: you have to write posts, maintain contacts, advertise, etc.  All those things take time and, between the blog, my job teaching at the school, and private English classes, there often isn’t a lot of “free time” left over and I can sometimes feel a little “wiped out.”  What’s more, for me blogging is somewhat addictive.  The more I write, the more I want to write, the more I want to write, the more I write, the more I write, the less time I have for other things.  It’s a vicious cycle. 

Would any of you other bloggers/expats out there like to say something about this?  I’m all ears… leave a comment below.

Hasta luego,
–Chris
http://abroadinspain.com