So while I only officially celebrated American Thanksgiving on the actual day (my aunt hosts a Thanksgiving dinner on the following Saturday in Annapolis, Maryland which I've gone to a few times, and am going to this year) once while living in the States (and even then we didn't have turkey or cranberry sauce or pie) it's one of things I miss most about living there. For starters, Thursday is my favourite day of the week and so I like that American Thanksgiving is always on that day. But more than that, I like its position at the end of November. Canadian Thanksgiving being on the second Monday in October just seems too early. It's too close to Labour Day to really need that holiday, and then it's so long to go without a holiday between Thanksgiving and Christmas. C. told me how his mom hated how close American Thanksgiving is to Christmas because she felt a lot of stress and pressure with two big family gatherings so close together, wanted to make them as successful as possible, etc. I can definitely see the (potentially limitless) possibilities for stress, but I actually like how American Thanksgiving kicks off this whole month long holiday period. It's a great way to end the year!
What I miss most though is actually a feeling, or a specific time period, more than anything else. Case in point: American Thanksgiving in Austin was never anywhere near as amazing as American Thanksgiving in Berkeley. Thanksgiving in Berkeley meant parties the Saturday before (where something monumentous, or so it definitely seemed to 19/20 year old me always happened) and red eye plane rides and the end of the semester in sight (which was always bittersweet). I loved going home to Toronto, and thus not even being in the US for Thanksgiving, and recharging for 4 days and then coming back ready to take on finals and enjoy all the fun that always encompassed December in Berkeley. So while it never (at least I don't think so) meant for me all the things it means to Americans, it was still something I looked forward to every year. I also think it says something that in a lot of ways November was my favourite month in Berkeley (tied with December and June, and then followed by March), which is odd, because it's one of my least favourite months everywhere else I've ever lived.
When I became good friends and started hanging out a lot with K. and her sister my last semester/June in Berkeley, they told me about how a few days before real American Thanksgiving they always have Friends Thanksgiving where they celebrate with their friends. I love that and it made me sad I didn't become friends with them until it was too late for me to go to it too! It's always fun to hang out with family on holidays but I think celebrating with friends is great too. N. and her roommates at the time hosted a big Thanksgiving dinner my last year in Berkeley exactly a week in advance and it was very cool - lots of food, lots of drinks, everyone in a good mood. It was more like a party in that there were too many people to have a sit down dinner but I think it was actually better that way.
In the vein of friends and Thanksgiving going well together, in 2008 I decided I better stay in the US for actual Thanksgiving day and celebrate it with one of my friends as after that year I wasn't going to live there anymore. So I went to Salt Lake City to spend it with S. It was great! While we didn't have the traditional food, we did spend a long time cooking (after watching movies all morning which was also really fun!)sweet potatoes, cauliflower, carrot cake, and S.'s best ever spanakopita, and just talking, lounging (I wore leggings all day) and hanging out. It seemed like even without the turkey and the trimmings we still got the basics of Thanksgiving - good food and even better company! - down pat.
So while I can't really say I miss American Thanksgiving as a holiday per se (which is actually a bit of a problem as I feel, in general, that I have way less holiday spirit of any kind than I used to; but that, I suppose, is a topic for another post... :)it makes me nostalgic for a very happy time and place in my life.
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