Happy Thanksgiving!!

Happy thanksgiving again everyone! This is the first time I passed and celebrated Thanksgiving in my life. Since there’s no Thanksgiving holiday like here in my home country, so I have no idea about this occasion before. It makes me want to know what is the important of this occasion and why people consider it very important day in a year.

Thanksgiving Day is a harvest festival celebrated primarily in the United States and Canada. Traditionally, it is a time to give thanks to God for the harvest and express gratitute to others for our many blessings. While historically religious in origin, Thanksgiving is now primarily identified as a secular holiday.

The date and location of the first Thanksgiving celebration is a topic of modest contention. The traditional "first Thanksgiving" is the celebration that occurred at the site of Plymouth Plantation, in 1621. The Plymouth celebration occurred early in the history of what would become one of the original thirteen colonies that became the United States. However, there was another, more modest Thanksgiving in Virginia on the banks of the James River in 1619. The celebration became an important part of the American myths by the 1800s. This Thanksgiving, modeled after celebrations that were commonplace in contemporary Europe, is generally regarded as America's first. Today, Thanksgiving is celebrated on the fourth Thursday of November in the US and on the second Monday of October in Canada. Thanksgiving dinner is held on this day, usually as a gathering of family members and friends.

Thanksgiving this year I have a chance to go to New York. On Thanksgiving Day, most of shops and restaurant was closed. If they were opened, they would be closed earlier than normal day. This is because all American will go back and celebrate Thanksgiving dinner at their home with the whole family. They normally cooked turkey and eat with mashed potatoes etc. This might be the day that gathers all family members, in such an individualistic city, back together again.

The day after Thanksgiving is called “Black Friday”. This is the day that people start their shopping season for their Christmas. All the shop and department store are on sale including some brand names. This is another day that people are looking forward to every year. I saw a line of people standing in front of the shops and department stores waiting for their open hour. It is another new experience that I never met before. So next year, person who loves shopping like me would not miss to celebrate this occasion for sure.

HAPPY THANKSGIVING!!