Defining "Black Friday" to Foreign Exchange Students

I  have two foreign exchange students in my speech class this year. One is from Brazil and the other is from Germany. It's always interesting to hear their perspective on American culture. However, sometimes it's difficult to explain certain "Americanisms" to them.

The other day a few girls walked into speech class gabbing about how much they were looking forward to Black Friday. As my exchange student from Brazil listened in, I noticed a confused look on his face. Then I saw him mouth the words to another student, "What's Black Friday?" The other student couldn't tell what he was trying to ask him, so I piped up.

"Oh, are you wondering about Black Friday?"

"Mm-hm"

"Black Friday is the day after Thanksgiving when the 'official' shopping season for Christmas starts. All the stores open extra early and they have really good prices, so the majority of Americans go shopping on that day."

"Oh. Okay. . . but why is it called 'Black Friday'?"

The other students in the class chime in, "Yeah! Why is it called that?"

I've never really heard why it's called "Black Friday," but the eyes of all my students were looking at me expecting an answer.  I decided to tell the students why I think the day is called "Black Friday."

"Well, I'm not positive without looking it up, but black usually represents death and my speculation is that it's called 'Black Friday' because people get killed on that day. I've heard of people who've been trampled to death by crowds of people rushing into Walmart to get the best deal on flat screen TVs."

A chorus of "Oh, yeah!! I heard about an old lady who got smooshed behind a door!" and "There was a man who got hit by a car in a parking lot, too!" and "Did you hear about the lady who . . . blah, blah, blah," swept across the room.

I looked over at the two exchange students. Looks of horrified shock and disgust had swept across their faces.

"Does that answer your question?"

"Uh, yes. Thank you."

And then the bell rang for class to begin.

I later found out that "Black Friday" is called such because it's a time when the stores bring in so much money, they are said to be "in the black," as opposed to "in the red." A few of my fellow teachers couldn't believe that I had given the reason I had to the students. I kind of felt bad after that because I was sure I had made America look horrible to these exchange students. HOWEVER, I don't feel so bad now because I found out that my definition of "Black Friday" was actually somewhat correct!! After doing some research, I discovered the phrase was coined in the 1960s by a police officer who had observed the horrible traffic accidents and mobs of people crushing other people on that day. It was only in more recent years that retailers decided to give a positive spin on the name by saying it was called "Black Friday" because sales were up so high on that day. Personally, I think the former definition is more fitting. :-)

The Perils of Making Hot Chocolate

This morning I woke up to a cold, dark, windy, rainy day and decided that today would be the perfect day for hot chocolate. My Facebook friends agreed, so I knew it must be a good idea. I tucked a couple packets of Kroger brand Dutch Cocoa into my purse to take along to school with me. (Kroger Dutch cocoa is much tastier than the Swiss Miss cocoa we have at school, in my opinion.)

I arrived at school and got all set up to watch my morning care kiddos; then I headed into the kitchen. I grabbed a styrofoam cup and emptied the contents of my cocoa packet into it. That was pretty easy. Then I took a spoon and headed around the corner to the hot water dispenser. I began filling my cup with the hot water. I must have been cold, because I got a shiver and my hand shook resulting in hot water pouring onto my left hand and down my sleeve. It was so hot that I quickly jumped which resulted in spilling all my hot chocolate down the front of my skirt and onto the floor. *sigh*

Naturally, I now have a dilemma. Do I run to the sink and flush my hand and arm with cold water, or do I first attempt to get the hot chocolate out of my skirt? Of course, I opted to save my skirt. I mean, I do have to wear it in front of judgmental high school kids for the remainder of the day! Fortunately, it's a black skirt, so it didn't take too long to hide the hot chocolate. So I got the hot chocolate out of my skirt,  got my hand and arm cooled off with some cold water, and got the mess cleaned up off the floor. But I still wanted hot chocolate. It's a good thing I was prepared and brought two packets!!

Let's try this again. Empty contents into cup--check. Dispense hot water into cup without spilling on yourself--check. Stir--check. Add marshmallows--uh-oh.

I don't always go for marshmallows in my hot chocolate (although I am quite the marshmallow connoiseur), but I figured after my ordeal I certainly deserved them. Mrs. Fleming knows I like marshmallows in my cocoa once in a while so she always keeps a bag on hand for me. (Okay, okay, I'm sure she doesn't buy them just for me, but it makes me feel special to think so.) Anyhow, I grabbed the bag of marshmallows. It had already been opened, but had been twisted shut with a baggie tie. I removed the baggie tie and started to untwist the bag. Before I knew what was happening, marshmallows were flying everywhere. (Did you know that marshmallows seem to have a little bounce to them???) Apparently the bag had been torn clear down the side and it only looked like it was closed up with a baggie tie. *sigh* At least the whole bag didn't spill.

Anyhow, after I cleaned up my mess, I carefully added marshmallows (the ones from the bag, not the floor) to my hot chocolate, which was now more like warm chocolate. So it took me a little while to get my hot chocolate made, and I had a few mishaps; but, boy, I must say that was some good hot chocolate!!

I Want a Leaf Globe

When I was a kid, I thought snow globes were so beautiful. Actually, I still think that. What's prettier than watching snow gently swirl quietly around a pretty winter landscape? You know--some pine trees, a deer or two, little red cardinals sitting on evergreen boughs, etc. Okay, okay, you're probably thinking that there are a lot of things prettier than that, but you catch my snowdrift.

Anyhow, as I was drivng home from church this afternoon, a brilliant idea popped into my head--at least, I think it's brilliant. Here it is:

Somebody needs to make a LEAF GLOBE.

That's right, my friends. . . a leaf globe. I was just struck by the sight, the sound, the smell of the leaves swirling around the pretty autumn landscape today. (Today was a bit breezy, I must say.) It was absolutely beautiful. And tonight coming home from church I observed the same scene, except everything was bathed in the light of the full moon. It was mesmerizing.

Of course, some modifications would have to be made to a leaf globe that a snow globe doesn't have. For instance, the leaf globe would need to make a rusltling sound as the leaves swirled. Snow is silent, but leaves are not. And you'd have to hear the howl of the wind. And it would need to smell like leaves. And it it would be really cool if it lit up to recreate moonbeams.

If anybody has any expertise in making snow globes, please try to make me a leaf globe. I want one. :-)