Action de grâces

Well, the guy who works in the salle informatique at my school managed to work a miracle yesterday, and so my trusty ordinateur is functioning again, at least for now.

Like I said before, I got really homesick last week, and I think part of it had to do with missing Thanksgiving. Even though I attended two separate Thanksgiving parties organized by the assistants, I was sadder than I thought I'd be not to be at home.

It was also strange to explain the story and the purpose of Thanksgiving, from the beginning, to French schoolkids and teachers who'd either never heard of the holiday, or who had a very limited knowledge of it. They found it hard to believe that it's a national celebration that everyone participates in, not just the descendants of the first Pilgrims, and that all across the country, everyone does the same thing and eats the same meal.

In several of my classes, I asked the students to think about and share what they were thankful for. Here's a composite list, in no particular order. The students are all between the ages of 8 and 11. I think their responses show that children all over the world really aren't so different...

• My family
• My brother
• My parents
• My mother
• My sister
• My father
• My cousins
• My uncles
• My aunts
• My grandmother
• My grandfather
• My friends
• Trees
• My heart
  
• Dancing
• My school
• My classmates
• My teacher
• Nature
• My homework
• The beach
• My house
• Swimming
• Singing
• Dolphins
• My fish
• My birthday
• Video games
• Food
• Being a kid
• My moto
• Shells
• Poetry
• That I was born
• The Earth
• Rainbows
• Learning English
• Learning Creole
• Christmas
• Presents
• Airplanes
• Horses
• Reading
• White tigers
• The sand
• The river
• My dog
• My cat
• My toys
• My artistic talent
• Living in Martinique
• Traveling
• Happiness
• Peace
• Health
• Education
• Clothes
• Shoes
• Water
• Music
• French
• Life
• Games
• Books
• Pets
• Being loved
• Cars
• My X-Box