Tomorrow is American Thanksgiving and a friend of mine has invited me for supper. Then on Friday the kindergarten teachers have organized a whole day of Thanksgiving crafts with the kids. Then on Saturday, it's the Cornel Thanksgiving potluck at school and most of the staff goes. We all eat in the kindergarten classrooms at Nan Men. Everybody brings a dish and it's a mad eating frenzy with adults on tiny plastic chairs.
One of the Chinese Teachers asked me the other day what the difference is between American Thanksgiving and Canadian Thanksgiving. I told her that in the U.S, Thanksgiving is a major holiday with lots of turkey and a long weekend and it's a really big deal and all the sitcoms create a Thanksgiving special. In Canada, we have Thanksgiving in October and we eat turkey and everyone is happy we have a long weekend. I don't remember ever getting that excited about the pilgrims in school and I don't know why we celebrate it on different days. I don't think she was impressed with my knowledgeable answer.
Anyway, I'll try to remember to bring my camera for this one. And if anyone wants to fill me in on the background of Canadian Thanksgiving, that would be good too.
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both holidays developed seperately on both canda and the usa. the first thanksgiving was held in Newfoundland by English explorer, Martin Frobisher, who had been trying to find a northern passage to the Orient. He did not succeed but he did establish a settlement in Northern America. In the year 1578, he held a formal ceremony, in what is now called Newfoundland, to give thanks for surviving the long journey. This is considered the first Canadian Thanksgiving. At the same time, French settlers, having crossed the ocean and arrived in Canada with explorer Samuel de Champlain, also held huge feasts of thanks. They even formed 'The Order of Good Cheer' and gladly shared their food with their Indian neighbours. the simularities between the us thanksgiving and the canadian such as the cornucopia, turkey and pumpkin pie are coincedence. In Canada Thanksgiving is celebrated on the second Monday in October. Unlike the American tradition of remembering Pilgrims and settling in the New World, Canadians give thanks for a successful harvest. The harvest season falls earlier in Canada compared to the United States due to the simple fact that Canada is further north. I hope you found this an insightful and learning experience. I stole all this information from this first two sites that came up when I typed "canadian thanksgiving" into google.
Wow, I did find that an insightful and learning experience. I was so Canadian Thanksgiving ignorant. Tanks brudder!
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