Comments on: Observing America through nomadic Thanksgivings

By: Kris

Kris — Wed, 02 Dec 2009 21:43:55 +0000

Sigh. Oh London. I loved what Mark’s mom did with that turkey.
2009: Thanks to my job, we spent another Thanksgiving away from family.

http://www.vimeo.com/7878643

It was an exciting 3-hour show with 30,000 people running in a huge Thanksgiving Day 5K/10K in Sacramento. But I was also wiped out and I didn’t have the energy to cook a Thanksgiving meal…until the weekend.

By: andrew

andrew — Tue, 01 Dec 2009 19:06:33 +0000

I’m a little surprised by your comment about Londoners not having a similar holiday as Thanksgiving. I grew up in England but moved to the US 9 years ago so I have some understanding of both cultures. Christmas in the UK is almost exactly the same holiday as Thanksgiving in that British people will go to significant lengths to travel to be with family. There is even a large traditional dinner with turkey at the center eaten on Christmas Day.

Sure, Christmas is a holiday with religious roots but as you probably noticed there isn’t a whole lot of religion left in the UK. Lots of old imposing churches but with small congregations. These days Christmas is all about being with family. Yes, there are groups of people that don’t celebrate Christmas in the UK just as there are people that don’t do much for Thanksgiving in the US (I think a lot of Native Americans are quite conflicted about Thanksgiving).

It is interesting to me as I learn about other cultures that there is often a core event that occurs each year that families will make significant effort to get together for. The US has Thanksgiving, UK and much of Europe has Christmas, China has its New Year around the end of January, Japan has its New Year at the beginning of January etc. There is definitely a strong drive in human nature to periodically reconnect with your family.

I hope you enjoyed your time in my country of birth. London is certainly an exciting city to spend time in and explore.

By: Emily

Emily — Mon, 30 Nov 2009 17:29:17 +0000

so glad you had a great thanksgiving. i must admit it was thrilling this year to know for sure i was going to have the holiday off, and not be working the night cops shift on the friday after thanksgiving, making it impossible to travel to see my scattered family. been there, done that, it was fun, til it wasn’t.

By: Andrea James

Andrea James — Wed, 25 Nov 2009 22:36:20 +0000

Me too Kerri! Mwah!

By: Kerri

Kerri — Wed, 25 Nov 2009 22:35:28 +0000

I remember a certain Thanksgiving with you!

Happy Thanksgiving AJ! We miss you!

XOXO

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