Happy Turkey Day

Today was my first "American Thanksgiving" - it sounds like it should come with a Christmas ornament for the tree. Fortunately, one of the young women that I work with invited me for dinner at her cousin's house along with her immediate family from Louisiana. It was, well, very "American". 90% of the conversation was on hunting as her 21 yr old brother is an avid hunter of all animals - squirrels, pigs, deer - you name it, he's shot it (and ate it). Before class, he apparently, wanders around the bush looking for animals to kill and then drives back and wears his fatigues to class. In addition to receiving a new education on hunting, we watched 2 football games! It was funny how hard they tried not to talk about politics and their love for Republicans and disapproval of illegal immigration but a few times it slipped. All in all, it was very sweet of them for having me over and for sharing their food! It's just funny how families are... I can only imagine what an outsider would say about mine!!!

Last week, I received quite a shock at work as my boss was fired. Next to the owner (who hardly makes an appearance) she was "it". Now there's basically 3 of us directors running the show until they find someone new. For anyone who has been following my work situation outside of this blog, this is clearly a positive change for my work with the parents and kids. However, I am continually blown away with how fragile jobs are here. I've watched at least a dozen people be fired already. I really do feel like I always need to be on edge... although, I've heard (and I know) my work is very solid.. it's just that being fired for me is an entirely different world than for most people, since it means immediate deportation back to Canada.

Paul and I (finally!!!) drove up to Berkeley last weekend! (GPS, I CAN NEVER LIVE WITHOUT YOU!) We met up with one of Paul's friends from Calgary, a mathematician working on his PhD at 18 yrs old! I cannot even try to compare Berkeley to Stanford, there is no comparison in my mind.. Stanford is amazing! We later ran into some friends of ours from Stanford and went out for a night in SF to sing karoke and visit some lesbian bars (get the full SF experience). The city is just incredible, something for everyone!

Pictures (I have many more but I didn't know people's "threshold" for viewing)
1. Psychology Building at Berkeley
2. Sather Tower
3/4/5. View from Sather Tower
6. Paul & Alex Fink
7. Me & Alex Fink