What do holidays, ‘Amazing Race’ have in common?

This year has gone by so fast, it is already time to start preparing for the holiday season.

Spencer Massicot Teen Columnist, The Friday Flyer

Spencer Massicot
Teen Columnist, The Friday Flyer

Most years for Thanksgiving, my family hosts a small get-together for close family at our house; but this year we have been invited to a big Thanksgiving at my great uncle’s house. It is going to be very different because we usually live on leftovers for the next week, but now we are only going to have what we are sent home with.

Thanksgiving traditions in our family are getting a big pumpkin pie from Costco, gobbling until we wobble, and we even put our Christmas lights up.

This year, we have a new tradition: every day of November we write down something we are thankful for and, on Thanksgiving morning, we are going to read out everything we are thankful for. This can include big things like friends or family, or simple things like food or a TV show.

At Thanksgiving dinner, a lot of people say that their favorite part is the turkey or the mashed potatoes or the stuffing, but the thing that always keeps me coming back for more is a roll with plenty of butter. I can’t get enough of them. I will have as many as possible before someone tells me to stop.

The next day after Thanksgiving, as everyone knows, is Black Friday, and that marks the time to start preparing for Christmas. But my family starts a little early. We usually have fake trees in the living room and office by the middle of November and almost all of the decorations are already out.

We all love the vibe that Christmas decorations give in the house. We listen to Christmas music in the car, and start stringing lights around the house.

On Black Friday, we usually go to the Promenade mall in Temecula and go around looking for deals. We go after the mobs in the early morning, so we miss out on a lot of the better deals, but we still get away with a few scores.

A18-PIC-TeenWhat I like even more than Black Friday, however, is Cyber Monday. On Cyber Monday, I have saved up Amazon gift cards from the previous Christmas and my birthday to spend on my favorite things, with mostly free shipping. Last year I bought seasons of my favorite shows like “The Amazing Race,” and I have watched them more times than I can count.

“The Amazing Race” is my favorite show of all time and I have seen all 27 seasons at least six times each. If you do not know, “The Amazing Race” has 11 or 12 teams of two people with a preexisting relationship. They race around the world and complete challenges like things that locals would do or things that may be fun.

The challenges have names such as roadblocks or detours to be treated like a race. They get to experience how people in other countries and maybe on the other side of the world live their life. Each episode is a different leg of the race and, at the end of each leg, the last team to arrive is eliminated.

When it gets down to the final three teams, they come back to the United States and complete the final leg of the race. The first team to cross the finish line at the end of the final leg wins one million dollars.

I am a total nerd for The Amazing Race and have made the rest of my family like it too, I even have a fantasy league.

I started watching it when I was in the 5th grade. I had always seen it advertised when I was watching “Survivor” with my mom and I decided to start watching it. I immediately loved it and I made it my goal to watch all 19 seasons that I had missed. I found them in little parts on YouTube and full episodes but finally I finished them all and I just kept watching them.

The show really teaches geography and how different cultures go about their daily life. I have seen every season so many times that I can recite almost every team’s placements for every season. It is my goal to one day be on the show and, if not win, make it to the final leg, because that experience would be incredible.

The next season, season 28, is filming right now and it is getting a lot of people excited because it is an all social media star season. It is all people from Vine, YouTube and Instagram. “The Amazing Race” is basically the most incredible, free, three- to four-week vacation anyone can have and I am so excited to apply one day.




Weather

CANYON LAKE WEATHER

Facebook