Happy Thanksgiving!

Well, it's Thanksgiving morning in the Czech Republic. That's kind of a contradiction in terms seeing as how they don't actually celebrate Thanksgiving. But it's the morning of Thanksgiving and I'm in the Czech Republic, so somehow it all meshes together in my head.
It's strange the way holidays tend to dominate the way we think about days. Growing up in America I was so accustomed to just expecting certain days to be free from work. However, living in Hong Kong and the Czech Republic have shown me that having such expectations can be really detrimental to ones way of thinking. I will not be free from work today (or all week as some are stateside.) If I had the thought that today should be a day of rest, a day spent with family, I would no doubt be in despair. You see, today, I'll be working for ten hours. Not exactly a peaceful sort of thought.
But there is still much to be thankful for. I've given my daily students a Thanksgiving project, and if they manage to at least come close to the parameters I've set for them, I won't have to do a whole lot of teaching this morning. And Thanksgiving provides an opportunity to use fun activities in all my classes, and hopefully get people thinking about the things in life that really matter, the things they have to be thankful for.
I'm also thankful that, even though this can probably be seen as my second worst Thanksgiving, for the simple fact that I'll be working ALL day long, it can't even come close to my worst Thanksgiving. My second year in Hong Kong I ended up missing the big Thanksgiving party at Amy's house because I was in the hospital with a baby all evening. It took longer than my usual shift and I had no time to eat until I was on my way home. I stopped in the little 7-11 in the entry of Queen Mary Hospital and picked up a little bag of crispy noodles and a fanta. Not exactly an exciting Thanksgiving feast, but I was hungry and in a hurry. Unfortunately, about the time I got home I found myself feeling rather ill and ended up puking up aforementioned crispy noodles. Gotta say that was the worst Thanksgiving I've had.
Well, class will be starting here pretty quick so I ought to be going. I hope this Thanksgiving finds you thankful, whether you're in the ideal setting surrounded by family and food and fun activities, or far from normality working hard possibly in a foreign land. To live and breathe is enough to make one thankful...