Analyzing The Madness: Holiday break a sigh of relief

The air’s turning colder, Michael Jackson’s back in court and a week from now, you will be back home eating mom’s cooking and sleeping with your old teddy bear. Yeah, things are finally back to normal. There’s something special about Thanksgiving break seeing old friends, watching Charlie Brown television specials, trying to fit into jeans that fit before the beginning of the semester. But perhaps the most important aspect of Thanksgiving Break for college students is that for the first time in a long while, we can relax. Of course, there are certain startling factors to being back under mom and dad’s roof. For starters, you’ll have to re-accustom yourself to ‘real time.’ Think you’re going to sleep in until noon? No way. Dad will have you raking leaves by 9 a.m. Suffering from a hangover from late-night reunion parties with high school buddies? Loud cousins and kissing grandmas will be all over you way before the Advil kicks in. There’s no escape you have been a soldier, missing in action since August. Now the war is over, and it’s time to return to the farm. Wow, these analogies need some work. Thanksgiving Day is always fun. Instead of dragging yourself down to the dining hall, you get to enjoy a wholesome meal with people you love. However, I’ve noticed certain changes as I’ve gotten older. When I was younger, I’d watch football with my dad while mom burnt the turkey and mashed the potatoes. Now, I am expected to help out in the kitchen. Has anyone else noticed this? It starts out slowly, where you’re asked to stir the gravy or peel the carrots. Then the next year, you’re wearing an apron, sticking your head out of the kitchen trying to hear the score. Before every Thanksgiving meal, my family asks me to say grace. Now if you know what I’m talking about or have ever been in this position, you may be aware of its implications. The first year my grandmother asked me to say it, I thought, ‘Sure, I’d be honored.’ But after years of Thanksgivings, Christmases, four weddings and a funeral, I am just about tapped out of inspirational words. And yet, like many college students, I will be looked upon this year to say something special, loving and profound to my family. I will do my best to use big words and show that my $40,000-a-year education at least enables me to effectively put words together in the form of a sentence. However, I’m starting to think it’s just some inside family joke to see when I finally break. The actual Thanksgiving meal, with its hours and hours of preparation, is pretty short and uneventful. You pray, you eat … you may even be like those Leave-it-to-Beaver families who break the wishbone. Whatever the case may be, when the meal ends it’s time to do one of two things: drink or sleep. Or, I suppose, both, but not in that order. The Thanksgiving nap is as crucial to the feeling of the holiday as turkey. After stuffing yourself with your favorite foods, it is time to find the most comfortable available sofa in the house and claim it as your own. The women in my family often will sit at the table and drink coffee or tea while the men and children lay out in the living room like beached whales. I figure when I stop racing my sister for the comfy chair and join the table instead will be the year I am officially … old. If this isn’t your first Thanksgiving break, you know that the question-and-answer session is unavoidable. Your family will want to know how you like your classes, if you are enjoying Boston and where you were when the Red Sox froze like a virgin on prom night. In fact, you will probably have the same conversation with all of your relatives. There is always somebody, however, who finds the most inappropriate question. Last year, it was my cousin Steve, a high school senior. ‘Is it true that college girls are easy?!’ he asked with wide eyes. His question prompted my grandpa to smack him over the head, much to the enjoyment of my grandmother. At the end of classes on Tuesday, BU will close for an actual holiday, rather than our previous million-dollar-Monday (courtesy of the Board of Trustees). Students will pack their bags, forget about points for a few days and head home to their own family or the family of friends. Whatever the case may be, enjoy the time off. You deserve it. And besides, when you get back, finals will be staring you in the face. So have some turkey, drink some adult beverages and find that perfect corner of the sofa!