I'm not from USA , but I love the sound of Thanksgiving , can you explain to me please the special parts of your Thanksgiving?

[molonski2]

[WindAtMyBack]

It's basically a harvest celebration that have been celebrated in many cultures throughout history. When Europeans started settling the New World, they carried on the tradition. Many countries still do it. Sometimes it's called Thanksgiving, and sometimes it's called something else. In the US, Canada and some other countries, it's called Thanksgiving. It's earlier in the year in Canada ( I think October? ). MANY countries have some kind of harvest celebration, or did at some point in their history.

The origins are a celebration of a ( hopefully ) good harvest, and having enough food to survive the winter. Of course this is far more important in the cold climates. It's actually celebrated much later than typical harvest season. Because all that food needs to be stored, canned or preserved to last through the winter. That's a lot of work to be done. So it's also a time to finally relax after a lot of hard work harvesting and preparing for winter.

The tradition in the US started before there was a US. It was started by the earliest settlers more than 200 years before there was a US.

The modern holiday is largely a family oriented holiday. The family gets together and has a big feast. It's planned ahead of time, and preparation of all the food can take hours. Turkey is the most common main course for Thanksgiving, plus a lot of side dishes. Potatoes, dressing, green beans, yams or sweet potatoes, are common side dishes. Pumpkin pie is a common traditional desert.

Drinking alcohol is common. Watching parades and American football on TV is common. Taking naps after eating way too much food is common. :)

In more recent years, the day after Thanksgiving is the traditional start of the Christmas shopping season. Three of the biggest holidays are within about a month starting with Thanksgiving. Schools usually close shortly after Thanksgiving, and stay closed until January. Many companies also close for at least part of the holiday season.

A lot of people travel to visit family. In many families it's the biggest gathering and maybe the only time everyone gets together at the same time. It can often be hectic, with three or more generations packed in the house, with high energy children running around.

Not everyone celebrates it. The ones who do might celebrate very differently. I don't celebrate it myself, but I always gets a LOT of leftover food from my neighbors. I usually get enough food to eat for 3-4 days.

[molonski2]

So for working Americans , they generally get 2 weeks only annual leave correct? So would most take these holidays at this time and hence its holiday season? Can I ask why you choose not to celebrate it? It sounds like a good time.

[WindAtMyBack]

The tl:dr version is that it varies a LOT.

There are no mandatory holidays, vacation, or sick days in the US. It all depends on the company and whatever agreement the employee has with them. It varies a lot by company and industry.

There are official "federal holidays" which only apply to federal workers. I think there are 11 of them. Government workers at other levels also get those days off. Individual states and local governments might add or subtract days from that list. Many companies give some of those days off, but VERY few give all of them off. Most but not all companies will give Thanksgiving and Christmas off. Some other holidays are common to have off.

Vacation time is different than holiday time. Two weeks a year vacation time is common, but I don't know if it's a majority of companies and jobs.

Sick days off used to be separate from vacation days. Now, it's usually combined with vacation days.

Whether or not any of these are paid days off depends on the company and industry. Like I worked in residential construction for many years. We never got paid days off for any reason. We got paid for when we worked. If we wanted time off we just asked for it, but it would not be paid. I also worked many years in an office. They usually always have paid holidays, vacation and sick days. It's common to get two weeks vacation a year, and about 6-7 holidays.

[FunkyMonkee]

Some of your family gets together at one person's house for dinner on the 2nd to last Thu. of Nov. every year. Normally,. everybody that comes to the dinner makes and brings with them some part of the meal for everyone to eat.
The women spend most of the day in the kitchen cooking and the men tend to hang out in the living room watching football, for some reason. I'm not the least bit interested in that so, I'm always either up in my room doing stuff with records or helping in the kitchen. I usually end up setting up the table.
When dinner is ready, everybody goes into where the food is being served and they start passing food around so everyone gets some.
First, we all get some dumpling soup, then we start eating everything else: turkey, rolls, corn, potatoes, and all kinds of other stuff
It usually takes the better part of an hour for the last of them to finish eating, some people take longer to eat and then, there's people like me who love my grandmother's dumpling soup and end up eating several bowls of it.
After eating, the people gradually get up and go into the living room to watch more football and/or fall asleep for an hour or 3. A bunch of the women usually sit at the table and talk for a good while. Eventually, one of them gets up and starts to clear the dishes and such from the table and then the others get up and help. A few stay in the kitchen to clean that up, too and wash the dishes while the rest stay at the table talking a bit longer.
Eventually, somebody whips out a deck of cards and we get a game of cards going that lasts the rest of the night until some decide it's about time to leave. It might take another hour for everyone to decide to leave and say their goodbyes. Usually, the last ones leave around midnight or 1:00.
Because it was such a hectic day, nearly everybody flops for the night. I'm used to staying up `til 3 or 4 so, I'm usually the last to go to bed.

[molonski2]

Sounds a great day to me..

[FunkyMonkee]

We do, pretty much, the same thing for Easter, New Years and Christmas except that for Easter, there ham and we have loads of candy, for Christmas, we get lots of gifts Most of the other big holidays (and b-days) are in the spring and summer so, most often, everyone would come to our house because we had the pool in the back yard. So, they'd swing by in the early afternoon and spend most of the day in the pool or sitting next to it and playing cards until dinner. That was usually a cook out on the grill and, a lot of us would sit next to the pool and eat, the rest, who didn't feel like sharing their food with the bugs, would eat inside.

[MysticDevice]

The special parts are getting the whole family together, enjoying tons of food, and just being thankful for being alive.

The origin of Thanksgiving is disputed to say the least. The common story is that it was a celebration of the first successful harvest by the early settlers in 1621 in which the Settlers and Natives feasted together.

The part they leave out of the history books is the theory that the settlers had just massacred a Native tribe in the area before the feast.

To this day no one is really sure what actually happened.

[molonski2]

So how is it different from Christmas?

[MysticDevice]

Christmas is a Christian religious holiday that celebrates the birth of Jesus Christ

Thanksgiving is an American National Holiday. Though I believe Canada celebrates it as well.

[NathanDavis]

one of the best aspects of it is... that this is one of the holidays that make families and relatives to travel and meet the most...

this of course, if you actually want to see them again, lol

[molonski2]

Yes , it sounds a lot like an Australian Christmas , which does not have the religious element?

[NathanDavis]

might have some very traditional, therefore religious roots... but I think it's a secular celebration today

lots of NFL and football though... which is almost religious, lmao

[molonski2]

Yes , we have AFL which is a winter sport for us ( very religious - like ) and the Christmas season is of course in summer , but now I'm in Thailand where its always summer.

[madhatters4]

to me it's the gathering of friends and family. the meal is great, heavy, but great. but really caps it off is the family being together. then there are traditions like football games on Thanksgiving.

also for those who celebrate it Thanksgiving for many is the real start of the Christmas season

[exitseven]

the first Thanksgiving was in Plymouth, Mass in 1620. The settlers were having their first winter and the local natives showed them how to survive, They had a big feast to celebrate.

so now Americans eat turkey, watch football and than have pie for dessert. It is a good holiday because people get together over a nice meal and there is not all the pressure of Christmas.

[Dnice1]

Spending time with family and eating good food