American Vacation

Tonight a good friend of mine from overseas is coming to stay with me for two months. My family and I have been vigorously preparing for her arrival, which has shed light on a strange familial phenomenon. My family's home has been under steady construction for over a decade. But the periods of time that one can chart rapid growth always comes at holidays or upon a visitor's stay. The motivation to finish projects, paint things, fix things up is exponentially greater when we know we'll have guests. I don't know if this is true of most families, but it is of mine.

Needless to say, it's been fun watching further progress on our big and little projects, but I am worn out and I've hardly gotten any of my money making work done.

I am looking forward to hosting someone for two months. It's great fun being a tour guide and helping someone discover the cool things about your own stomping grounds. I never do tourist activities anymore. Plus, this is a great season to come to Los Angeles. The  weather is nice, compared to the European country she's from, there are fun seasonal things to do and of course, we have our best holidays: Thanksgiving and Christmas.

One of the reasons I enjoy traveling is learning about the people in various regions. It should be fun comparing our country's traditions during the winter seasons, comparing foods, languages and other customs. She's a brilliant thinker and all around wonderful person as well, and our birthdays are only 8 days apart. She's planning a permanent move out here and most likely will be looking for work in her field of child psychology/counseling. I will keep you all aprised of our European/American interchanges. We certainly have a great deal to talk about on the political front, her country having just gone through radical changes in leadership, and the overall European sentiment toward our administration promises to be a fun topic of conversation.

I'm off to make an American dessert for her welcome back mini-party. Ciao!