Celebration

When I moved to Canada almost six years ago, I was open to experience a hard winter and challenges with the language barrier; however, I did not expect so great things to be on the way. One of the most exciting things for me was to find out how North American people celebrate holidays, especially Thanksgiving.

Have you ever thought about what Thanksgiving means? Where did it start? How does it impact our lives today? I will share with you today how I discovered that amazing holiday called “Thanksgiving”.

First, I was surprised to see how excited people are with decorating their homes and talking about different foods, so I decided to understand what Thanksgiving means. According to Silverman “Thanksgiving Day is an annual national holiday in the United States and Canada when we celebrate the harvest and other blessings of the past year. Americans generally believe that their Thanksgiving is modeled on a 1621 harvest feast shared by the English colonists (Pilgrims) of Plymouth and the Wampanoag people". In Canada, it is celebrated on the second Monday in October, and it is almost as important as Christmas time.

Another important thing that I discovered about that holiday is that it is a family moment; everybody gets together for dinner and enjoy time with each other. I am aware that the tradition has changed over the years, especially now that most people live in big cities; however, I am so amazed how they take the time to appreciate and to be thankful for all the blessings that they achieve all the year long.

Finally, for me, it was a moment to embrace the Canadian culture, and I am so glad that was a happy learning experience for me. I was lucky to be around a lovely Canadian family that explained to me how to stage the food, what each food meant, and above everything, how special it was to be around your loved ones. Definitely, I am so thankful for the opportunities that life is giving me to experience a new way to be thankful.