Most Americans I know celebrate Thanksgiving - some with more excitement than others. Thanksgiving has always been one of my favorite holidays because:
1. It falls around my birthday and up until the age of about 8 I really did think that the huge family get-togethers, turkey and pumpkin pie were all about me. Friends that know me also know that this spirit of 'It's all about me' is one that I still carry with me to this day.
2. It is a good warmup for Christmas.
3. Many times Thanksgiving is a day where we are forced into close and prolonged contact with people (family) that we only see once of year, many of whom we either don't know very well or don't particularly like. This is a great recipe for brewing socially awkward situations - which I LOVE!
4. Up until my move to England, Thanksgiving meant a Friday morning flight to Hawaii to see my parents and have fun.
Since moving to England I have always tried to continue the great American tradition of Thanksgiving by opening up our home to British friends who have had the misfortune of never experiencing this delightful day. Every year it inevitably happens that I get a panicked phone call the night before the big event, by a guest who is unsure of what gift to bring and what is going to occur. When I tell them that no gift is necessary, they seem at first relieved and then perplexed.
"What is Thanksgiving?"
To which I always reply - "it is eating - ALOT."
"Is that IT?"
"Well, there is also some football, some parade watching, some drinking and the potential of a verbal altercation thrown in"
"But we don't have American football here..."
"Nope!"
"Or a parade on TV....."
"That's Right!"
"So that would just leave......"
"Your family, my family, enough liquor to sedate a horse, some turkey and possibly a catfight!"
"You Americans are sooooo funny!"
"There is nothing funny about it - this is serious business, be here at 1 o'clock or face death."
This year we are inviting our neighbors who we knew in Northern Ireland. I am waiting for the phone call as we speak!
23 November 2009
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2 comments:
In your list of things to expect you forgot THE TURKEY NOISE! You had better not forget the turkey noise.
How right you are and how fabulous that their is a noise to go with Thanksgiving. I'll bet Guy Fawkes Night doesn't have a noise!
You had better have your phone on when I call this year to make the noise. and you had better not pass the phone to somebody else like you did last year! I'll know if its not you laughing on the other end!
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