Thanksgiving comes around every year in the U.S. and we go to our relatives or friends houses, or invite everyone to our own home. We talk, catch up on things because we don't always see each other as often as we'd like to. We laugh, we watch an American Football game, and then sometimes a movie. But I think we forget that Thanksgiving is basically about being together, and no about doing things out of habit. Being away at Uni at the moment really gives me that perspective. I live on campus with international students from everywhere. Different cultures, different beliefs, different customs. And yet, Thanksgiving rolled around and more than 50 people showed up for dinner, board games, and to spend time with each other. No, Thanksgiving isn't usually celebrated in Australia, but the student village tries to take note of the different cultures festivals, and observed holidays, which is how I found myself sitting down to Thanksgiving dinner with fellow students from everywhere. Everyone is different in language, culture, colour, background and yet everyone was getting along. Laughing, teasing, talking, joking and playing cards or board games. There were exactly three Americans, including me and everyone else probably originally just showed up for the food, but ended up staying a lot longer than they anticipated. Felt like a huge family get together to me, where no one had seen each other in a long time and given that everyone tends to coop themselves up in their rooms to study I guess it could be said that they hadn't. It was fun, and it really captured what Thanksgiving was supposed to be about. Yes, I know; it was supposed to boost the economy way back when... And they couldn't figure out what day to put it on.. but that's no longer the point. Its become a holiday about being thankful that you have friends and family, and that was certainly evident on the opposite side of the planet from where the holiday originated. :)
Hope you and yours had a wonderful Thanksgiving, even if you don't observe the day. ;)
1 comment:
I'm so glad you had such a good time with your fellow students sharing a great dinner and your company. Sound like it was a lot of fun! We wished you a Happy Thanksgiving at our little gathering.
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