an american tradition... or 2

Well I have been asked to do a blog! Evidently you have already heard from the others so now it is my turn. So here goes.. I am not the most fantastic writer and as you can see from previous blogs, I have a lot to live up to.

Some of you may not know, but I am not the best first thing in the morning. In fact it takes me quite a while to wake up, (probably after a couple cups of coffee!) In order to get to Maine, which was about 6 hours travel, we had to leave in good time. Thus we travelled on bumpy freeways, stopped at rest stops and talked about whatever. The scenery from Montreal to Maine changed from flat and brown to hilly and brown. (it is the time of year we are traveling) Unfortunately we didn't see much by the time we arrived as it got dark just after 4 in the afternoon!

It was so great to see familiar faces when we arrived at Mark and Tina's. Their kids have grown up so much! I must say quite the young ladies. As you can imagine, I loved having a female friend to talk to (rather than just boring old Dave:) ).

Thanksgiving was at the Salisburys, however unfortunately Mark had to work, (being a nurse in the hospital emergency dept in Portland). Other friends were invited making a total of 16 people eating a mountain of Turkey (20lb bird fed everyone plus enough leftovers for another meal!) and the most fabulous pies (Blueberry, Apple, Pumpkin and Cherry Pie) for dessert. To be honest, if anyone went hungry, it was their own fault!! The meal started at 2.30 in the afternoon and by 5.30 I think we had had our fill. We did go for a walk in between times however... The decorations were very autumnal, otherwise it's very much like a Christmas dinner back home.

Another tradition is to go to the Black Friday sales. And when I say Black I mean 6 in the morning if you are lucky (or sleep in).. There are traditionally great savings to be made on this day however after getting up at 4.30 in the morning, we were a little disappointed in the discounts offered compared with last year. Probably due to the recession however I did get a cute little 10’ laptop to take home with me & Dave scored an ipod.

If that wasn't enough... we did Thanksgiving all again Friday evening (and again unfortunately without Mark who was still at work). We were invited over to some more of the Salisbury's friends. These friends had 11 kids, (7 adopted) plus a boyfriend and 2 other friends so all up there were 22 give or take sitting around 3 dining tables. Emma was the same age as one of the kids and looked just like her. They could have been twins! And yes it was a huge house with 2 makeshift dining areas to cope with us all. Ham was on the menu with desert of Chocolate, Banana and and Custard pies in addition to the types partaken of on Thursday. We had such a great time. The adults played Cranium, with American questions, which were not that easy for us New Zealanders.

For some reason no-one thought to take any photos of the thanksgiving dinners however here’s a couple of randoms. Hope you enjoyed my entrance into the world of blogging – it’s been fun.

Alex