A THANKSGIVING STORY

Remeber the scene in "A Christmas Story" when the family goes to a Chinese restaurant for Christmas dinner? We felt kind of like them today.

Things have been a little crazy lately so we finally decided that we were justified in taking this Thanksgiving off from the cooking and preparation, and taking advantage of the galley on base. The galley is the on-base cafeteria. Imagine the Golden Corral on a budget (and minus the really old people). That's the galley.

Despite being Thanksgiving, we sent the kids off to school. They go to Spanish schools that of course don't celebrate Thanksgiving. That gave us some peace and quiet to enjoy. Nick spent the morning on a bike ride in the rain, the cleaning lady came, and Rebecca did some things around the house.

Around noon or so we heard the sound that for the last five years has been virtually our sole connection with loved ones--- iChat (shameless plug for the Mac- if you don't have one it would make a great Christmas gift). We video conferenced with a group of friends that we have considered family for the last 3 years in Okinawa. They were gathered together for the traditional friends Thanksgiving dinner. We were flattered and even a little emotional that they would think of us even though we are now half way around the world. We had the chance to touch base with the whole group at once and introduce them to the babies. It was the next best thing to being there with them. We felt missed, and that felt good.

We then picked up the kids from school at 2 pm and we were off to the galley. The galley was an adventure. I did my best to covertly video the event. See the short clip below to get a better feel for the experience. In a nutshell, we paid $21 for the family, picked up our tray, and made our way down the "buffet" line for the traditional fixin's of roast, turkey, patatoes, ham, stuffing, and something they claimed was green beans, and discussed a mural on the wall that Jake claimed was a "half naked man peeing" (I will include the picture below for you to decide).

Rebecca didn't like any of the food much, and Caden and Max discovered they didn't like eggnog. Dad showed the kids how to make impressions of their fingers by sticking them in the molten wax from the melting candles. We drank lots of chocolate milk and finished it all off with ice cream.

We arrived hungry, left full, and didn't have to clean any dishes (unless you count the part where you have to take your lunch tray to the mysterious man in the dishwasher window).  I would say an overall success. And while it may not rank up there with our best Thanksgivings, it will surely be one of the more memorable ones.

Rebecca is finishing off the day with a midnight showing of "New Moon", leaving Nick home to try his luck at breastfeeding the twins.

They Speak Spanish in Spain

Of course we haven't kept up on the blog over the last while. We still have lofty goals of doing so, but just haven't found the time. We're not sure anyone reads it anyway so it may not matter. But I have a second right now so I figured I would give a glimpse into our Spain experience.

This is Nick speaking. Anyone who knows me knows that I have always enjoyed Spanish and was of course excited for the opportunity to come to Spain and immerse ourselves in the language and culture. We've done our best so far. We live off base, enjoy Spanish food, shop at the Gypsy Market, eat olives, and I even drive a Spanish vehicle. This immersion comes with it's challenges of course, but we are feeling more and more comfortable by the day.

The language is usually the limiting factor for most of the non-Spanish here. Most make a valiant effort to learn so they can more fully enjoy their experience. We have been fortunate in that regard. We also attend a Spanish-speaking branch and have the kids in Spanish public school. With all of the effort to immerse ourselves I wondered when I would start seeing some sort of effect on the boys. School was eye opening at first. Caden quickly assimilated but Max and Jake were a little slower. They now seem very content. Parent teacher conferences have been positive and any language barrier that may have existed at first appears to have vanished and is no longer the limiting factor there.

I have had a couple of "ah-ha" moments over the last couple of months as I have seen the boys meld into their new culture. I was thinking about these experiences today and decided I would share them so they wouldn't be forgotten.

The first of these "culminating" moments was when I was in primary listening to Max give a talk on families. He gave the talk first in Spanish and then repeated it in English. I noticed he read better in Spanish than English. Reality check. The following week Caden did the same thing. I realized I was living an experience I had never thought I would.

We started noticing that as the kids speak English they have developed a funny accent. They often phrase and emphasize sentences in English as if they were speaking Spanish.

Caden is in 4th grade. Spanish school is widely accepted here to be a little more intense than English schools. I realized how real their immersion is when I sat down with him to study geology... in Spanish. As we reviewed the make up of the earth's crusts, I was amazed at his ability to recite definitions word for word from his textbook. Photosynthesis and plant reproduction produced the same sense of amazement. He scored a 19.75 out of 20 on his test.

We have started making friends with other Spanish families that live near by. You almost feel embarrassed by your ignorance when you suddenly realize that despite all the differences, most of us are exactly the same. As I walked next to Caden and Alejandro and listened to their random conversation I was amazed at how natural their conversation was first due to Caden's ever-improved Spanish, but also due to the universal language of kids- laughing. While some words may have been lost in translation, I doubt any real meaning was. These two have become the best of friends.

Rebecca has even found herself using her Spanish on a daily basis. She surprises herself regularly with her extensive knowledge and finds that she is more anxious than she thought she would be to learn more.

Jake attends preschool at the same public school as his brothers. At 4 yrs old he spends 5 hrs at school each day. At dinner last night he told me that they are studying "otoño" (fall) and that they will be going to the park the following day to collect "ojas" (leaves) and "castañas". This was a new word for me as it should be since I have never been exposed to the word "chessnut" in my Spanish adventures. I think he was a little disgusted that I didn't know what it was- he made this clear as he explained (in Spanish) that this was a fall fruit.

Today was the kicker, and what sparked this post. We were discussing that he needed to take peanuts to school tomorrow (another fall fruit). During our conversation he repeatedly called them "cacahuetes". Finally, to save him the embarrassment, I corrected him and told him that it was "cacahuates". He proceeded to tell me that it could be said both ways. I told him he was wrong and that the dispute would be put to rest by the online dictionary. Turns out that in Spain it is said cacahuetes and in other Spanish-speaking countries it is said cacahuates. This was a proud moment for him. However he handled it well, not rubbing it in my face and waiting until I had left the room before he told his mom that he knows more Spanish than Dad does and later claiming to have taught himself Spanish.

Sorry for the journal entry. If you have read this far then we know you are a true friend (or a family member who knows that any of the preceding stories could be referenced in conversation so you'd better be up to speed). If you're still awake leave a comment.

Pictures are to come.