Giving Thanks

     This last week has been spent adjusting to my new life in Denmark. In the spirit of Thanksgiving wich has passed- I am going to share a few things I am thankful for this Holiday Season. 

• My Mother

This Thanksgiving I had the pleasure of showing what Thanksgiving is like in the United States. I made the whole traditional meal from start to finish for 15 people in all. I now believe in myself. I will never do that again though- next time  Thanksgiving rolls around I'm going to go out and buy a pie and maybe a bottle of wine. Cheers!

I have no idea how people, in the past, prepared Thanksgiving dinner without Mother's or Google. I would have died. I was on skype regularly asking my mom about how to cook a turkey and all the little details like timing... So thank you Mother!!!

As for Google - I had to be converting recipes from cups to grams and MLs... and Farenheit to Celcius. Stressful? Slightly. Just glad I know how to cook!

And let's talk about Pumpkin. It has not come to Denmark yet.... and so 6 hours later and about 10 stores we managed to find 3 little decorating like pumpkins. I now appreciate pumpkin sold in a can.

•  My new family

I am in Denmark working as an au pair... and before I began my trip I wasn't sure what to expect with the people I would be staying with. They are all fantastic though. I feel comfortable and right at home, so that is nice! The kids are lovely and even though they don't speak much English, I am starting to learn danish words! I have a terrible memory so learning day to day danish words and practicing daily makes it easier to recall later.

• The freedom we have in America

I love my country. - Growing up in the US you don't always truly appreciate what you have because it's just normal! But it truly is uniqe! And other countries are not like the US. It is sad that we want to become more like other countries and lose what was fought so hard for... The US is kinda like the Ugly Duckling, right? One day we will wake up and realize the Swan that's been in front of us the whole time.

I could go on and on because once I start counting the things I'm thankful for, I find there is always more. And more.

So Happy Thanksgiving a day late- but remember, it's never to late to give thanks. :)

I have been to one hospital in Denmark and the thing I found the most interesting was the footware worn by the Dr's and Nurses. I'm a girl and I love shoes so it's not totally weird to pick that one out! They were sandals and crocs. With socks. Haven't seen that in the US! Sandals and socks are a fashion faux pas! Would you not agree??

Last - bathroom light switches are on the outside of the bathroom door.

And that's Emily reporting to you live from Denmark

You're SOOOO Vain

Carly Simon sings a song “You’re so Vain.” When I was growing up my music exposure was limited and I heard that song for the first time in the movie “How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days.” One of my favorites as far as typical chick flicks go. I'm sure that had something to do with Matthew McConaughey. There’s a line in the song that goes “I had some dreams, they were clouds in my coffee, clouds in my coffee.” Now I’m sure there’s a real and official interpretation of that line, but I haven’t bothered to use Google and look it up. Here’s what I believe it means.

I was house-sitting for a family a few months ago. They have this beautiful sweet kitty who does not like alone time. It was one of those mornings where you really needed your coffee and I gave in to the desire. I made myself coffee and then went for the milk. I can go without sugar… but I really do like my milk. I poured it in and to my dismay, all these white flakes jumped to the top. So in the song, my interpretation would be dreams gone sour. Never drink coffee or any beverage when there are white flakes at the top. 

In China the one child rule is under discussion. Apparently China would like extra workers and additional members for a society that is growing older. In my family I’m one of eight. It’s strange to think of only being allowed to have one child. If my parents had lived in China I would not exist. Stop.Listen would not exist. I think one day I would like to go to China and see it. It is a country that is indeed fascinating. Maybe if a family is allowed two children China will have more girls!  

On a side note, I try not to discriminate by saying things like “I don’t like all people who live in Antarctica!”  Sha Zukang a UN official for China said “I don’t like Americans” amongst a lot more. It must be tiring to have to put on an open and negotiating peaceful front all the time. In politics it’s all about diplomacy. If your opening words are insulting your chance of influencing the second party is pretty much nil. Unless they dig the insult thing.  When it comes to politics or religion one could talk until their face was blue and the other person would likely still stick to their guns. That’s why I find debating somewhat pointless. Nobody wants to change their mind! Most people I know hate change. If there’s change I’m initiating, I’ll initiate it as slow as I can. The end result is something we’re pleased with but the getting there is a difficult process. 

To burn or not to burn. I don’t know what your opinion is… but if it was any other book besides the Koran I doubt anybody would care. 

And that’s Emily reporting to you live from Sk- Washington. 

By the way, I just read an article that discussed the use of facebook as a correlation to one’s narcissism tendencies. Interesting.  I’m starting to feel defensive. 

Of Pens and Pencils

I am now using Google Reader to stay in connection with the various blogs I am subscribed too. So much for trying to stay away from Google. They have the advantage because everything is Google and everything Google creates is right there, easy and convenient.

Have you ever noticed how normal it is to know something is not quite right but to not bother doing anything about it? We like convenience and we don’t like change. I procrastinate on a daily basis and the effect is me, all stressed out, needing to go to anger management class. If anyone comes up with an easy solution on breaking bad habits, I’m sold. However, it will probably be a while before I can apply the method. Beyond procrastination, to each his own.

There is a psychology term “functional fixedness.” It’s an interesting concept and I just read an example that I am going to share with you. NASA decided its boys needed a space pen so they could write upside down and not deal with those “no ink” problems. Lots of dollars later, they figured it out! The Russians wanted the same thing for their space boys. Without spending money they settled on using a pencil. You can’t say American’s don’t persevere.

I hope I read this wrong or perhaps it was mis-written or something. Apparently Grand Ayatollah Nasser Makarem Shirazi, one of Iran’s cleric said the WW2 Holocaust was a myth and people should accept that. Yes, indeed. An atrocity like that is best forgotten. According to George Santayana “Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it.” We like to be ignorant though. It’s easier to be happy that way.

Next time you deliver a pizza pack a gun. That might be the only way to make sure nothing hooky goes on. Richel Nova was delivering dominoes pizza and was stabbed to death. And that’s probably right after he rang the doorbell. What I find interesting is how young the suspects are. I wonder if the video games and movies we have today desensitize people to the point that killing someone is no big deal. I’ve never been into the horror movies genre but I have seen a few. Some I’d like to forget. I think if everyone walked around with machine guns, we would think twice before stabbing someone for the thrill of it.

And that's Emily reporting to you live from Sk- Washington.

The Evils of Google

Is it just me or has Google been in the news a lot this last month? Usually about invasion of privacy, China and Google, Germany and Google, or “bedbugs sighted in Google’s Office!” I suppose the last one is the most amusing.  So if Google’s getting the heat from all over right now, how do YOU feel about Google?

They’ve recently added a feature called Google Dashboard so you can see what kind of information Google collects about you and how public that information is to others.  I use Google as my primary search tool, I like how it looks and I haven’t had much opportunity to locate something else. Apparently Chrome has a function that allows you to search “privately.” I don’t believe that really solves anything though.  I have a conspiracy theorist inside me though, so I always think there’s probably more than meets the eye in most situations.

If you want to check out Google and privacy, look up google.com/privacy. On the left side you’ll see a link titled Dashboard. Go ahead and click it, you might just learn something about yourself.

People are not happy with Google and now they’re speaking out about it.  If you‘ve ever been to Times Square you were probably one in a million walking about. A 15 second clip of the movie below will be advertised there around Christmas. Check this video out: Can we all say CREEPY together? Wait... that would probably be even more creepy.



So in my last post I talked about Starbucks. I really do spend a lot of time there so that makes us pretty tight. I read a story about a 28 year old woman who stepped out of her car and was heading into Starbucks when an African American woman threw acid in her face. Her eyes were saved by her sunglasses but can we all say HATE CRIME? That’s so awful! And she was right outside a Starbucks I visit all the time in Vancouver Washington. Eeek. It gets worse, the same thing happened to a woman getting out of her car and heading to her home. Her HOME!! What’s up with these people? Dude. Like are you serious?? I suppose that means we should all be on our guard no matter where we’re headed. It's disturbing.

By the way, I learned how to take snap shots of my screen- thrilled! I love having techy brothers and knowing how to use the Google search function.

And that's Emily reporting to you live from Sk-Washington.
Stay safe and enjoy the holiday!