Thanksgiving is perhaps the most American thing in the world. It is even more American than the "World" Series! People here are surprised that it is my first Thanksgiving and it is, again, one of those things that America seems to think is far reaching although it is not.
A massive interest of mine has been what Thanksgiving is all about in reality and what started it. There is a lot of confusion and supposed misconceptions about Thanksgiving and, I will admit, a lot of people i have spoken to are not 100% certain of what it is really about. It has lead to me asking more people and also doing a bit more searching on the internet as to what has caused this from becoming as big as Christmas. It sounds a bit crazy to say it is as big as Christmas but i have had several "new" Americans telling me that this is exactly how it is. And it is amazing. And according to the way the shopping centres have been acting, probably true.
The things i have seen on the internet are very interesting and seemingly subjective depending on what your views are on other things. Some say it began for Religious reasons as the Pilgrims on the Mayflower wrote a pact to allow freedom of religious beliefs (Christians only!) and that the first Thanksgiving was giving thanks to the Lord for producing a good harvest.
Perhaps it signifies the breaking of bread between the pilgrims and the Native Americans at Plymouth Rock (a relationship which seemed to diminish quickly) or, as other have said, to celebrate the colonialisation of the Native Americans.
Now this blog is not being written to stir up debate or solve an answer. In fact i think it is probably always going to be better if the real answer is never too clear.
In typical American, positive manner, they have made it a celebration of family. Perhaps the die-hard Christians think this is not appropriate but any Celebration which makes people sit around and think about how much they love and appreciate the people seated around them is the kind of thing which will lead to wildly positive things in almost every case. And the sort of thing i want to be a part of. I will not be so naive to ignore that this sort of thing can lead to as many family breakdowns as Monopoly has (how do those Hasbro Bros sleep at night?) but in almost every case it is only going to bring people closer together.
People get a week off work (just about), travel great distances to be with people they love, share delicious food, drinks and consider their own happiness and how blessed they are. Happy, good natured people will only find this to be a joyous event. I am very much looking forward to my first Thanksgiving and seeing all of the fuss and eating most of the stuffing (seasoning). Is it over the top and a bit ridiculous? Perhaps. But this sort of happy atmosphere appears intoxicating and i can not deny the fact that i have already given thought to how lucky i am and how wonderful my family have been to me.
No comments:
Post a Comment