It is November 22, 2007. This is the third Thursday of November, thus it is the Thanksgiving holiday in the USA. Since I have the day off of work, I decided to use my bit of free time to begin writing a blog about life in the USA. In the ensuing weeks and months, I will share some of my observations about life in the USA. I will also relate a few stories about traveling around this great country. Hopefully, it will enable people in other lands to gain a bit of understanding about the USA and the people who inhabit this country.
Thanksgiving day is one of the major holidays celebrated by nearly everyone in the USA. It began as an annual harvest festival. The traditional legend attributes its beginnings to the seventeenth century colonists, known as the Pilgrims, who came to this land in search of religious freedom. After surviving a bitter winter of privation, they learned from local Indian tribes, how to cultivate native crops and to hunt for native game. After their first harvest, the immigrant colonists joined their Indian neighbors in a harvest festival of thanksgiving. At least, that is what the legend says.
Historically, the Pilgrims would have eaten venison and native turkeys along with corn, beans, squash and other home grown produce. Thus, the traditional Thanksgiving dinner includes a large roasted turkey with side dishes of corn, beans, squash, sweet potatoes and other dishes. The traditional desert usually includes pumpkin pie. Many people in the US refer to this holiday as "turkey day".
Thanksgiving is typically a family holiday. In the USA, the days before and after are usually some of the busiest travel days of the year. Children and grand children jump in their cars or make their way to the airports and journey toward the family homestead. They all congregate on Thanksgiving day for a grand meal. A huge roasted turkey of ten or twelve kilograms is usually stuffed with a special family recipe of seasoned bread cubes, mushrooms, sausage, chestnuts or oysters. It is typically accompanied with side dishes of mashed potatoes, candied sweet potatoes, corn, beans, squash and cranberry relish. Desert includes various pies and cakes including the traditional spiced pumkin pie topped with whipped cream.
After dinner, it is traditional for many family members to sprawl on the couches and chairs with their bloated bellies and nap or watch football games on the television. It is also time for the various family members to socialize on this rare occasion when they are all at home together.
In New York City, Macy's department store hosts a huge Thanksgiving Day parade with giant balloons, marching bands and many Broadway theater, television and movie entertainers. It is broadcast on television in the morning, so watching the parade is the typical diversion while preparing the food. This weekend is considered the official beginning of the Christmas shopping season in the USA.
The day after Thanksgiving is the busiest shopping day of the year, and is jokingly referred to as "Black Friday" by the retail workers. Stores across the land, all prepare special sales and promotions for this annual first day of Christmas shopping extravaganza. This year, the major retail chain stores are all vying with each other to attract as many shoppers as possible. Some stores are opening as early as 4AM on Friday morning. Others open at 5 or 6AM. Most of them will remain open until midnight or later.
All across the USA, people will flock to the shopping malls and stores by the millions. The parking lots at the shopping malls become vast seas of autos with congested jams of traffic. The stores will be crowded with mobs of frenzied shoppers looking for that special bargain. It is madness to attempt shopping on such a day, yet it is considered a traditional shopping adventure for many folks.
By Sunday, it all winds down, as the children and grandchildren depart for the journey to their far-flung homes and their jobs. The highways will be crowded with post Thanksgiving traffic and the airports congested with tired but sated travelers.