Just about this time last year, I was with my sister, scarfing down 12 grapes as the clock struck midnight in a jam-packed Madrid square.
And now, I sit alone at home, in front of the TV, and reflect.
Don't worry. This isn't a complaining post. Due to work and traveling and general Advent business, today I've had only my second get-things-done-at-home day of the entire month and that is cause for celebration.
Besides, there was no possible way I was going to top Nochevieja in the Plaza del Sol, so I didn't make any plans. It's kind of nice to give my introverted self a break from people this New Year's.
I started 2014 off with abounding optimism. I was traveling and hanging out with my family, two of my favorite things. I lived in Spain. I had a beautiful apartment, an easy job, and unlimited sightseeing potential.
My plans started to change pretty quickly, but it really wasn't until October that I lost that optimism. I think that's a new record.
You may know that I don't deal well with change, or with feeling a lack of control. I started working at a day care in August, a place with a fabulous Assistant Director and friendly teachers and a class I adored. And then, seven weeks into my new job, suddenly I was being moved to a different center. I was devastated. It's taken me this long to get over that [and I'm still not 100% there, to be honest].
So looking back, I'm glad for another "fresh" start. I've got some exciting traveling things to look forward to, further in the year. This new class of mine should be staying the same after this month. I have lots of good days and lots of things to be thankful for.
It's not the same as it was 12 months ago, but then again, I don't want the same. I don't want to be in grad school right now, or starting a career at a company I could see myself committing to forever. If I had wanted that, I probably would have had it already. And that, I think, is why I keep beating myself up about being a college graduate still living at home and working an hourly wage job, temporary as that all may be. That "American Dream" is still so prevalent that I have trouble seeing my own dreams underneath it.
[Okay, I'm going to complain a little bit here. Working 40 hours a week, plus 1 hour for lunch and 1 hour of driving each day, does not leave much down time for figuring out what, precisely, my own dreams are. There's not a lot of room for any kind of creative pursuits or higher-order thinking, really. Hence the no blog posts since August. How do people do this their entire adult lives?]
I don't really make New Year's resolutions, because I know myself well enough to know that I won't keep them, but I want to start 2015 off with a promise that I think I've made to myself, consciously or not, for quite some time: I promise to try a little harder to do things that are rewarding. To blog. To meet up with friends. To read. To go on walks. To travel. To create.
It's a New Year, y'all. Anything is possible.
Showing posts with label Holidays. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Holidays. Show all posts
Wednesday, December 31, 2014
Monday, December 23, 2013
On the First Day of Christmas...Vacation
I feel really bad every time I fall off the regularly-blogging wagon,
but I seem to do it over and over again. The other day, it occurred to
me that part of this is that I have an expectation for myself to write
really long, thought-out posts and so I have a dozen drafts of posts
that are still only half finished. [I meant to write about my trip to Barcelona and 2 weeks later I still only have a title.] So I'm going to work on posting
shorter anecdotes in between those longer ramblings.
But not today.
Today, I'm talking about figure skating, namely the Spanish National Championships of Figure Skating that I got to see on Saturday. [The competition actually started on Friday, so I missed all the short programs. Darn work.]
Actually, I'll probably have a bazillion posts in the next couple of weeks.
I'm also going to be talking about the city of Jaca, where the competition was held. This little town that I had never heard of ended up being a fascinating place to visit.
And I'm also also about to go on a marvelous adventure in Andalucia with my family, so you can bet I'll have stories to share from that trip.
...
Anyways, as I was saying. Figure skating!
Only once before in my life have I ever gotten to see Olympic level skaters perform live [the lovely Sasha Cohen] and that was something like 4 years ago. So being in Europe, in the Olympic year when Russia is hosting, I spent two months desperately searching for a competition that was either close to Spain or during one of my long weekends. There were a couple I could have gone to, but it would have cost a lot of time, money, and effort and to see a lot of skaters that I don't really follow.
[It would almost have been worth it to see Kim Yu-Na in Croatia a couple of weeks ago, but I went to Barcelona instead. Much cheaper.]
I was finally relieved from my I-can't-believe-I-live-in-Europe-but-am-still-too-far-from-Sochi sadness when Evgeni Plushenko announced a tour, with Johnny Weir, that's partially happening in Eastern Europe over Easter break.
And then I found out that Spanish Nationals would take place right when I started my holiday at the end of December.
And the city of Jaca is only a few hours away from me.
And Javier Fernandez would be competing.
This guy is one of my three current Sochi favorites, lander of quadruple jumps, skater of fantastically themed programs [his Pirates of the Caribbean is amazing]. Spanish skating is not the biggest - I had literally only heard of two other skaters in the whole roster - but that also meant that the competition was free and I had a really good view of the ice.
So after taking two buses [I had to transfer in Zaragoza], I got to the city Saturday afternoon, wandered a bit and had my sandwich lunch in front of a 16th Century castle. I couldn't check into my hostel until 5, so right after I dropped my backpack in my room, I walked to the Ice Pavilion. Which was conveniently located right next to the cheapest hotel in town.
The Junior Boys were just warming up when I sat down - in looking at the competition schedule, I had decided that catching a later bus [and therefore sleeping longer] was more important than watching all of the Novice performances, but I was pleasantly surprised with how well these kids skated. [I've always cared more about artistry than technical difficulty anyways.]
After the long Zamboni pause, during which I ate a whole bag of honey roasted peanuts, there was a team of synchronized skaters, which I have to say I had never seen before.
Then came the Ice Dancers.
And the pairs, one Juniors and one Seniors.
The ladies.
And the men.
It was a very different kind of competition compared to the ones I'm used to seeing. In the states, there are so many people competing for so few medals. I imagine that has as much to do with the size of the country as the depth of talent, although countries like Japan have been able to create a fantastic figure skating program in a small country. But anyways, it was funny to hear "Queda in primero posicion" after the only team in the event had skated - for them, 1st place was guaranteed.
The best part about a small competition though? I stood less than a foot away from an Olympic skater.
The medal ceremony was strangely held off the ice, so all the spectators crowded into the lobby of the Ice Pavilion to watch. And when the skaters got out to the lobby, they mingled with the crowd. They were taking pictures with people and congratulating each other and Javier Fernandez came to talk to some coaches who were right behind me.
It was an incredible moment to end an incredible day of skating.
[I have to mention that the 3rd place Mens Singles skater could be Johnny Weir's Spanish twin. And then waiting for the medal ceremony, I saw him holding hands with presumably his boyfriend who looks, to me at least, exactly like Johnny's husband. Bizarre.]
...
This event was really convenient for me because A) it was held fairly close to Soria and B) this weekend was the first weekend of the Christmas holiday. But once I was busy seeing Jaca, I realized something else - if I hadn't had anything to do this weekend but get ready for my family coming, I would have gone crazy with the anticipation. Keeping busy - first with work, and then with travel - really helped me keep my calm.
You know how I know this? I can't sleep. Or rather, I can't seem to go to sleep at a decent hour. Today's not so bad, it's only 1:00 as I begin writing this. But yesterday, I think I was up until 4. I could not for the life of me tell you how Ispent wasted the last several hours of that time, because I definitely wasn't cleaning or trip planning or reading the last 200 pages of the giant book that I need to finish and send home.
Because have I mentioned that my family's coming to visit? And they're bringing a bagful of things that I forgot in my hurried packing and I'm sending stuff I don't need home with them so I have room for everything I've bought over here?
I'm so excited it's kind of consuming my every thought.
Merry Christmas, everyone!
But not today.
Today, I'm talking about figure skating, namely the Spanish National Championships of Figure Skating that I got to see on Saturday. [The competition actually started on Friday, so I missed all the short programs. Darn work.]
Actually, I'll probably have a bazillion posts in the next couple of weeks.
I'm also going to be talking about the city of Jaca, where the competition was held. This little town that I had never heard of ended up being a fascinating place to visit.
And I'm also also about to go on a marvelous adventure in Andalucia with my family, so you can bet I'll have stories to share from that trip.
...
Anyways, as I was saying. Figure skating!
Only once before in my life have I ever gotten to see Olympic level skaters perform live [the lovely Sasha Cohen] and that was something like 4 years ago. So being in Europe, in the Olympic year when Russia is hosting, I spent two months desperately searching for a competition that was either close to Spain or during one of my long weekends. There were a couple I could have gone to, but it would have cost a lot of time, money, and effort and to see a lot of skaters that I don't really follow.
[It would almost have been worth it to see Kim Yu-Na in Croatia a couple of weeks ago, but I went to Barcelona instead. Much cheaper.]
I was finally relieved from my I-can't-believe-I-live-in-Europe-but-am-still-too-far-from-Sochi sadness when Evgeni Plushenko announced a tour, with Johnny Weir, that's partially happening in Eastern Europe over Easter break.
And then I found out that Spanish Nationals would take place right when I started my holiday at the end of December.
And the city of Jaca is only a few hours away from me.
And Javier Fernandez would be competing.
This guy is one of my three current Sochi favorites, lander of quadruple jumps, skater of fantastically themed programs [his Pirates of the Caribbean is amazing]. Spanish skating is not the biggest - I had literally only heard of two other skaters in the whole roster - but that also meant that the competition was free and I had a really good view of the ice.
So after taking two buses [I had to transfer in Zaragoza], I got to the city Saturday afternoon, wandered a bit and had my sandwich lunch in front of a 16th Century castle. I couldn't check into my hostel until 5, so right after I dropped my backpack in my room, I walked to the Ice Pavilion. Which was conveniently located right next to the cheapest hotel in town.
The Junior Boys were just warming up when I sat down - in looking at the competition schedule, I had decided that catching a later bus [and therefore sleeping longer] was more important than watching all of the Novice performances, but I was pleasantly surprised with how well these kids skated. [I've always cared more about artistry than technical difficulty anyways.]
After the long Zamboni pause, during which I ate a whole bag of honey roasted peanuts, there was a team of synchronized skaters, which I have to say I had never seen before.
Then came the Ice Dancers.
And the pairs, one Juniors and one Seniors.
The ladies.
And the men.
It was a very different kind of competition compared to the ones I'm used to seeing. In the states, there are so many people competing for so few medals. I imagine that has as much to do with the size of the country as the depth of talent, although countries like Japan have been able to create a fantastic figure skating program in a small country. But anyways, it was funny to hear "Queda in primero posicion" after the only team in the event had skated - for them, 1st place was guaranteed.
The best part about a small competition though? I stood less than a foot away from an Olympic skater.
The medal ceremony was strangely held off the ice, so all the spectators crowded into the lobby of the Ice Pavilion to watch. And when the skaters got out to the lobby, they mingled with the crowd. They were taking pictures with people and congratulating each other and Javier Fernandez came to talk to some coaches who were right behind me.
It was an incredible moment to end an incredible day of skating.
[I have to mention that the 3rd place Mens Singles skater could be Johnny Weir's Spanish twin. And then waiting for the medal ceremony, I saw him holding hands with presumably his boyfriend who looks, to me at least, exactly like Johnny's husband. Bizarre.]
...
This event was really convenient for me because A) it was held fairly close to Soria and B) this weekend was the first weekend of the Christmas holiday. But once I was busy seeing Jaca, I realized something else - if I hadn't had anything to do this weekend but get ready for my family coming, I would have gone crazy with the anticipation. Keeping busy - first with work, and then with travel - really helped me keep my calm.
You know how I know this? I can't sleep. Or rather, I can't seem to go to sleep at a decent hour. Today's not so bad, it's only 1:00 as I begin writing this. But yesterday, I think I was up until 4. I could not for the life of me tell you how I
Because have I mentioned that my family's coming to visit? And they're bringing a bagful of things that I forgot in my hurried packing and I'm sending stuff I don't need home with them so I have room for everything I've bought over here?
I'm so excited it's kind of consuming my every thought.
Merry Christmas, everyone!
Friday, November 29, 2013
A Very Different Thanksgiving
Thanksgiving has never seemed to be the quintessential American holiday more than right now. There are plenty of other celebrations that have made it to Spain in an Americanized form - last month, Halloween was a pretty big deal. But not Thanksgiving.
Even the concept of "being thankful" for things was difficult to explain, especially to the younger students in my private classes. With the 5 and 9 year old siblings I taught yesterday, I ended up asking them to write down things they liked. So the little boy said the only thing he's thankful for is football.
I actually ended up learning new things about the holiday in preparing a Thanksgiving-themed lesson. For example, some historians believe that the Native Americans showed up at the "First Thanksgiving" feast not because they were invited, but because they heard a ton of gunshots and thought the Pilgrims were being attacked.
This may also have been the Thanksgiving that I ate the most food. The English teachers at my school organized a fantastic Thanksgiving Day lunch. Since I am ovenless, I set aside my dreams of chocolate pecan pie and made a Waldorf Salad - I figured that was something uniquely American and easy to make in a short time. However, it's a lot more difficult when you can't buy seedless grapes.
Ham
Toasted crackers
Salad (mine and a more typical salad, although it had apples and walnuts in it as well)
Bread
Baked mashed potatoes
I raced home from our 4 hour lunch so I could go struggle to explain the holiday for my hour and a half long class, and then had a little time to sit in my apartment before Thanksgiving Round 2. [I also said a quick hello to my new roommate who moved in yesterday! Because there just wasn't enough going on this week already.]
So I made up another batch of salad and joined some friends for a late dinner. We ended up eating around the same time as our families at home would have, which I thought was nice except for the waiting to eat part. There are quite a few American teaching assistants, so between us, we were able to put together a very American Thanksgiving feast, with some Spanish and French contributions as well.
Dip (the one I tried was cheese and tuna, which was so delicious, I didn't even try the other)
Doritos TexMex
Cucumbers and carrots
Baked macaroni and cheese
Green bean casserole
Salad
Peas with ham
Cornbread and baguettes
Several of the teachers have asked me if this was my first Thanksgiving away from family. It was weird to realize that it was. There is no holiday that I associate more with family, so it's strange to think that it passed without me being able to see or talk with them. Nevertheless, I had a terrific day - although now I have a lot of sleep to catch up on.
Even the concept of "being thankful" for things was difficult to explain, especially to the younger students in my private classes. With the 5 and 9 year old siblings I taught yesterday, I ended up asking them to write down things they liked. So the little boy said the only thing he's thankful for is football.
I actually ended up learning new things about the holiday in preparing a Thanksgiving-themed lesson. For example, some historians believe that the Native Americans showed up at the "First Thanksgiving" feast not because they were invited, but because they heard a ton of gunshots and thought the Pilgrims were being attacked.
And I watched A Charlie Brown Thanksgiving about 10 times.
This may also have been the Thanksgiving that I ate the most food. The English teachers at my school organized a fantastic Thanksgiving Day lunch. Since I am ovenless, I set aside my dreams of chocolate pecan pie and made a Waldorf Salad - I figured that was something uniquely American and easy to make in a short time. However, it's a lot more difficult when you can't buy seedless grapes.
The Menu:
Appetizers
ShrimpAppetizers
Ham
Toasted crackers
Salad (mine and a more typical salad, although it had apples and walnuts in it as well)
Bread
Soup
Some kind of soup with pan-fried bread and lemon. I can't remember what it was called, but it was good, and I am the most picky when it comes to soups.
Chicken
Main course
Baked mashed potatoes
Deserts
Lemon cheesecake (I definitely had two pieces of this and then was given another heaping serving to take home with me)
Coffee flavored flan
I raced home from our 4 hour lunch so I could go struggle to explain the holiday for my hour and a half long class, and then had a little time to sit in my apartment before Thanksgiving Round 2. [I also said a quick hello to my new roommate who moved in yesterday! Because there just wasn't enough going on this week already.]
 |
| The spread. |
The Menu:
Appetizers
CrackersAppetizers
Dip (the one I tried was cheese and tuna, which was so delicious, I didn't even try the other)
Doritos TexMex
Cucumbers and carrots
Main course
Turkey (some of the best turkey I've ever eaten in my life)Baked macaroni and cheese
Green bean casserole
Salad
Peas with ham
Cornbread and baguettes
Desert
Apple pie Several of the teachers have asked me if this was my first Thanksgiving away from family. It was weird to realize that it was. There is no holiday that I associate more with family, so it's strange to think that it passed without me being able to see or talk with them. Nevertheless, I had a terrific day - although now I have a lot of sleep to catch up on.
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