How Much Do You Know About Thanksgiving?

Turkey, pumpkin pie, stuffing, cranberry sauces, mashed potatoes. 

As soon as you hear these words, you will be thinking of Thanksgiving. 

How did Thanksgiving begin? What did the very first Thanksgiving meal look like? The holiday feast dates back to 1621 when the newly arrived Pilgrims and the Wampanoag Indians gathered at Plymouth to celebrate autumn harvest. Simply put, they celebrated for their first meal in a new place, which means it is likely that their meals were consisted of Native American food.

We think of sauces or relishes made out of cranberries but they might have just eaten cranberries as they are. We also think of pumpkin pie as one of the post popular dishes in Thanksgiving but where would have they made all the butter and wheat flour to make a ‘pie?’

Edward Winslow, a colonial leader, noted in his journal that turkey was plentiful and common in the region. So it is very likely that they served turkey as a Thanksgiving meal like many people do nowadays. But according to Nathaniel Philbrick, author of Mayflower: A Story of Courage, Community and War, there were plenty of geese and ducks in the area during the autumn. So, it’s also very likely that they had geese or ducks as their meal. Or maybe all of them. Many historians claim that the Pilgrims might have eaten seafood such as fish and shellfish for their Thanksgiving because mussels and other seafood were abundant in the region. Was it true or not? We cannot know for sure.

It wasn’t until the 19th century, the Thanksgiving that we think of began to take place. In 1863, President Abraham Lincoln declared two national Thanksgivings: one in August to commemorate the Battle of Gettysburg and the other in November to give thanks for ‘general blessings.’

 

Do you know how other countries celebrate Thanksgiving? 

If you type in Google:

Thanksgiving

Related search that pops up are ‘Thanksgiving 2017,’ ‘Thanksgiving desserts,’ ‘Thanksgiving side dishes,’ ‘Thanksgiving menu,’ ‘Thanksgiving Turkey,’ and so on. Basically, they are all about food. Food always interests people. But WHO celebrates Thanksgiving? 

One of the news articles ‘9 Thanksgiving Facts We Bet You Don’t Know’  that CNN reported mentioned:

Thanksgiving is not just an American holiday. Canadians celebrate it too. Except they do it in the second Monday in October.

If you didn’t know that Canadians celebrate Thanksgiving as well, it’s likely that you didn’t know some Asian countries celebrate it too. Being from South Korea, I decided to share how people in South Korea celebrate their Thanksgiving Day.

In South Korea, we call Korean Thanksgiving Day as ‘Chuseok (추석).’ It’s one of the most important and festive holidays of the year. Just like Thanksgiving in United States, Koreans return to their hometowns to celebrate with their families and cause huge traffic jams. Another name for ‘Chuseok’ is ‘Hangawi (한가위),’ which is the 15th day of August on the lunar calendar. Han means ‘big’ and gawi means ‘the ides of the 8th lunar month.’ According to the lunar calendar, the full harvest moon appears on the 15th day of the eighth month.

Traditionally, Koreans will wear ‘Hanbok,’ Korean traditional custom, and visit their parents. One of the tradition includes wishing upon the full moon for happiness and welfare of the family. To celebrate for the harvest and abundance, Koreans used to play various folk games. Traditional folk games include ‘Samulnori,’ a traditional percussion quartette, ‘ganggangsullae,’ a Korean circle dance, and ‘talchum,’ a mask dance. One game that is still played today is called ‘Yut,’ which is a type of board game you  play with four wooden sticks. The sticks have one round surface and one flat surface on each side. Depending on how many flat or round surfaces you get on the top each time you throw the sticks, you move up different spaces on the Yut board. Your goal is to make a trip before other players do.

Modern celebrations are more about visiting our parents, spending time with our families, and eating ‘Chuseok’ foods. ‘Songpyeon’ and ‘jeon’ are typical ‘Chuseok’ foods. ‘Songpyeon’ is a type of Korean rice cake usually with sugar or honey wth sesame inside. There are great varieties in ‘Songpyeon.’ For instance, some have chesnut, black beans, red beans inside and they are made in the shape of half moon. I always had so much fun making them with my mom although I never managed to make them in the shape of half moon as my mom did. ‘Jeon’ is Korean pancake and they also come with great varieties as well. For instance, some are made of zucchini. Some are made of kimchi. Some are made of shrimps ad vegetables. They are all absolutely delicious and go very well with vinegar and soy sauce.

 

 

Other countries celebrate Thanksgiving too:

• Germany: Erntedankfest often takes place on the fist Sunday of October. It is a religious holiday to give thanks for a good year and good fortune. They usually celebrate by eating fattened up chickens, hens, castrated roosters, and geese.
• Liberia: Because Liberia was founded by freed American slaves, many American traditions, one of which includes Thanksgiving, is practiced in Liberia. The national holiday is on the first Thursday of November. They give thanks to the founding of their country and abundance. Favored local foods include chicken, cassavas, and spice.
• China: Moon Festival, Chinese Thanksgiving, is on the 15th day of the eighth month of the lunar calendar (just like Koreans Thanksgiving). Chinese traditional food to celebrate the festival is mooncake. The egg yolks symbolize the full moon. Traditionally, they lit up lanterns and worshipped the moon.
• Norfolk Island: Norfolk Island celebrate Thanksgiving on the last Wednesday of November. Thanksgiving began when American trader Isaac Robinson proposed decorating the All Saints Church with palm leaves and lemons, hoping to attract whalers to celebrate Thanksgiving.

And so many more!