The perks of being a teacher

* Children actually say things like "I want to be like you when I grow up", or "I want to be in your classroom forever!
* Before and after school, you have a very decent workspace
* You have the ability to awe children with food coloring, or with coke and Menthos
* You learn to forgive and forget from the experts
* You get to see some spectacular sunrises during your commute
* You might beat the traffic going back home
* You have summer and spring break off! 
* Reading children's books is part of your job!
* You become grateful 
* How old you are depends on how young your students are
* You will actually make a difference in someone's life 

Turkey hangover...

I am going to take a wild guess and say that most of the immigrants that come to the US also celebrate Thanksgiving. Not that this is the Promised Land, or that problems end when coming to this country, but it presents a chance to start over. For most, it is a golden opportunity. For others, however, the wrong step in a career, or simply a decent hideaway from a difficult life elsewhere.
Whatever their reasons, Thanksgiving is a perfect opportunity to pause and think about received blessings. A steady job, a peaceful neighborhood, better education for the children, healthier friendships, a chance to properly feed the family... Looking from a certain perspective, almost everyone has one or more reasons to be thankful.
On top of that, mostly everyone got two, maybe three days off. I am surely grateful for that!