Guy Fawkes
Tonight I have been to the city fireworks display and they were awesome. It is Guy Fawkes night tonight and i think that three quarters of the city turned out to celebrate it. The day has been very warm at about 27c and it stayed like that just until the fireworks started when the wind suddenly got up in the space of 5 minutes turning the temperature down to about 9-10c. there was a great funfair in town and it made for a great entertaining day.
Now, i wonder if any Americans can help me with a question? hear that you are having something called 'Thanksgiving Day'. I have heard about it in a few movies but im not too sure what it is all about. Can anyone enlighten me? Is it a national holiday etc? By its name it sounds like you are thanking somebody. I heard that it is celebrated in November.
It is now the start of a new week. Hopefully it wont be too busy for me....
kev.in.real.time
posted by kevin @ 11:23 PM
6 Comments:
It is a holiday celebrated the the third Thursday of November... it has to to with the founding of America... typically most American get Thursday and Friday off from work...and then it begins the crazy ass holiday season... the Friday is also one of the busiest shopping days of the year in the US and is called Black Friday because, most retailers start to actually make money at this point in the year... wikipedia will have better explanation than me... happy sunday
The "original" Thanksgiving was supposedly celebrated by a group of Pilgrims (of Puritan ideology, I believe) who had survived their first winter in the "New Land" because they had "befriend" the Native Americans who had shown them how to grow native food. But you know how historians take the biased view of those who decide whether it gets printed or not. In the years/centuries since then, Thanksgiving has supposedly lost its "true" meaning in that it is now a time (like Christmas) where you get to take the day off work--if you don't work in a 24-hour/365-day convenience store--spend time with family (if you so choose), and gorge yourself with lots of food--and the main course is usually turkey and/or ham. And the day after, commonly known by retailers as "Black Friday" has been heralded by the media and big retail boards of directors as the "Biggest shopping day of the Year" and those lowly peons who must work the retail shops that day hate it with a passion.
lol.
Those two comments pretty much sums up our holiday here in the states.
Glad to hear you're going to NYC. You'll have a blast. There is so much to see there. I recommend grabbing Lonely Planets guide to NYC. Its packed with all the great things to visit, and detailed maps out the whazoo. It's written by young New Yorkers and gives a fresh and current pulse of the NYC lifestlye.
I would recommend a play on or off Broadway (check out TKTS for huge discounted tickets), the MET museum is amazing, and Central Park is a must. There is so much I didn't get to see, but look forward to many more trips in the future! Let me know how it goes for you!!
Cheers,
Jason
I wish you a wonderful week, Kevin!
As the others have stated, TG is a national holiday established by a presidential proclamation. Currently it is the fourth Thursday of November. From its roots in colonial Puritan New England, it is intended to be a day based in part on a Christian twist to the Jewish harvest festival, a day to return thanks to God for his blessings. Because of the secular nature of modern American society, the religious nature of the holiday has faded. When I was growing up, besides gorging on a huge family feast, there would be football (American) games and parades on TV and in communities. At the end of the parade would be Santa Claus. This would signal the official start of the Christmas gift buying season. the day after TG is often called "Black Friday", in part because the sales this day, businesses are in the black (profitable) for the year. I usually avoid shopping this day. In the present culture, stores put out the Christmas items WAY before TG! Some stores in our area had stuff out in September!
BTW, The TG "weekend" Wednesday (22nd this year) thru Sunday (26th) are among the HEAVIEST travel days of the year in the US (highways and air travel). It can really get bizarre trying to get anywhere during the Wednesday or Sunday.
I might also add that in Many US States, the Monday after (27th this year) is the first day of (deer) hunting season. This adds to the "fun" in some parts.
In and of itself this "deer season" ritual is an interesting cultural phenom. In some places the "guys" take off to go to "deer camp" for a week, where they sit around and get drunk and watch porn. Once in a while they go out and try to shoot a deer. Many times they end up shooting each other (by mistake - they do a "Cheney") or they collapse in the middle of the mountains from a heart attack because they are out of shape.
All in all, the end of November is a fun time in the US!
Thanksgiving= plymouth rock, puritan, native americans, yadda yadda yadda.
What it is NOW is a 4 day weekend in November where we get together with family and cook a meal that has more food in it than most Ethiopians eat in their entire lifetime.
Typical food items: turkey, cranberry sauce, mashed potatoes, gravy, stuffing, green bean casserole, corn, pumpkin pie, and various other side dishes.
We watch football, play games, eat, and generally just shoot the shit with family.
Then the following day starts the month of Christmas.
Post a Comment
<< Home