What the UK Thinks of Thanksgiving

Happy Thanksgiving my friends!!!

It is strange indeed to be away from my family and friends this year but, surprisingly, I'm not actually a complete sniveling wreck like I had expected to be! Why? Three reasons:

1) I am too busy with school work and having awesome UK adventures to get too hung up on being away from home. I have class, a meeting, a voice lesson, and a choir rehearsal on the day that pretty much everyone in America has off. If I were just sitting around my room bored I'm sure this would be a completely different story. Already this morning I have attended a special lecture with a middle eastern musician who taught us all to improvise in modal music, it was actually really fascinating, and now I'm off to a voice lesson and choir rehearsal. What's that saying about busy hands being happy hands?
2) I have alternative plans with my fellow American-in-London, Sarah. Come Saturday we are going to take her kitchen by storm and hobble together a makeshift feast like every other American study abroad student in the world! We could go to one on London's fancier restaurants and spend £50 each on a glamorous, gourmet version of the traditional spread but I like our way much better! I'm calling it Two-Day-Late-British-Thanksgiving... Sarah doesn't know that yet. I have complete faith in our combined abilities to cook a meal (well, I have realistic confidence...) and I'm just hoping that somewhere, in the vastness of the interwebs, I can find streaming video of the Macy's Thanksgiving Day parade. I have, however, decided to hold off on watching Elf until I can quote the whole thing with my mom. I seriously can't wait!
3) Thanksgiving simply does not exist here in the UK. And why would it? Heck, a pretty big part of what those early pilgrims were thankful for was not being in England, right? Nope, here in London, as well as all of the other cities I've seen in the past few weeks, it is well into the Christmas season. The lights on Oxford street were on the day after Halloween. Without Thanksgiving there to act as a speed bump, the "holiday season" is just a big, scary snowball hurtling down a steep hill from Halloween to Christmas. In a weird way, the fact that Thanksgiving just isn't an issue here is really helpful, it would be pretty terrible to see all of the locals gearing up for feasts with their families and have to eat deli meat in your dorm.

Now, as I said, Thanksgiving is a very American thing. We Americans take the holiday for granted, we've been making hand turkeys and construction paper pilgrim hats since we were old enough to use scissors. As such we are fooled into thinking that Thanksgiving is common knowledge. Well guess what, to the rest of the world, especially the UK and Europe, Thanksgiving is a pretty baffling concept, the Brits don't even know how to wish someone a happy holiday. "Merry Thanksgiving!...?" Here are just a few of the hilarious Turkey Day misconceptions I've heard in the past few weeks:

-Thanksgiving is the ultimate American holiday and is more popular than Christmas
     A few weeks ago I was in Ireland (that post is still in the works, sorry) and my friends and I went out to a bar to see some Irish music. It was crowded and the only places there were to sit were at the bar itself. Long story short, we all ended up getting chatted up by Irishmen (don't worry, Mike). The guy I was talking with was a nice guy who was clearly just trying to make small talk and at some point our conversation turned to holidays. He pointed out that Americans are known to celebrate even the most minor holidays (which, sadly, includes Halloween in their book) whereas, in these parts, Christmas is really the only major holiday. It took me a bit by surprise when he asked whether Christmas or Thanksgiving was a bigger deal in the states. I explained that Christmas is still basically the biggest, most commercial holiday but that Thanksgiving is a close second and that in some families it may be considered a bigger deal. He looked doubtful. That's when I realized that to Europeans and basically any non-Americans, Thanksgiving is a mysterious and glamorous, all out American extravaganza. Who knew?

-And the pilgrims were...?
     This morning I was asking the people at the front desk of my residence hall a few questions with Gill, another student from DU, and in between some how being signed up to organize some sort of holiday music extravaganza in the lobby, the subject of Thanksgiving came up once again. Gill and I decided to share some of the lovely holiday stickers that my mom sent me to give the front desk (and its staff) a touch of festivity. They played along, probably because they felt bad for us, but it was amusing to see two grown adults wearing Snoopy stickers on their shirts. The guy (whose name I have never known) went for the sticker that shows Snoopy and Woodstock sitting together wearing, what he called, "funny 17th century outfits." I pointed out that they were pilgrim hats. Blank stares, no response to this at all. It is becoming clear to me that most people outside of America, if they even realize Thanksgiving exists, have basically no idea what it's all about. I am beginning to find all this mystery a bit hilarious.

-So by celebrate you mean drink right?
     This one is probably my favorite. Yesterday, Gill and I came back from class and stopped at the desk for some reason or another. The lady working asked if we were going out later that night, implying going out to party. We were both a bit confused for a second until she then pointed out that it was the night before Thanksgiving. Then we were really confused. Apparently when the rest of the world hears that it's a big celebration they assume it's the kind of celebration that involves loud music and copious amounts of booze. Now I'm not saying that there isn't a good bit of wine and such passed around at Thanksgiving and certainly there are relatives all over the country who end their meal (maybe even begin it) in a less than sober state. But when she asked if we were hitting the bars in honor of Thanksgiving I just couldn't help but giggle. She was so earnest about it and all I could think of was her imagining our whole country going out to bars for ridiculous themed holiday drinks and some weird appropriation of turkey.

I guess the reason I find all of this so funny is because we take it all so much for granted that it is just amusing to take a step back from all of the givens and see what it must look like from the outside. At the same time though, it is really great to know that Thanksgiving is way better than the rest of the world apparently thinks it is. Sure, if any media does make it over here regarding the holiday, it's probably about the guy who set his house on fire deep frying his frozen turkey or the lady who ran down an elderly person with a shopping cart at 3:00 in the morning in the toaster aisle at Walmart, we aren't exactly giving them the best image of the holiday. But what we know, that they don't get to see, is that it really is the storybook holiday that it sounds like. People really do think about what they're thankful for and spend the day with their families making wonderful feasts. It truly is an awesome holiday! The rest of the world doesn't know what they're missing out on!

In keeping with the spirit of Thanksgiving, here are just a few of the things that I am thankful for today:
-The past 2 months and the next few weeks. My time in London thus far has been an amazing experience and I wouldn't trade it for anything, not even a whole truck load of cranberry sauce
-My super awesome parents who let me go on this trip and put up with my incessant messages when I'm in random crisis mode. They even pretend to miss me!     
-My fellow Americans in London for keeping me sane
-All of my wonderful friends at home who send me lovely messages and make me feel loved

Now go forth, my fellow Americans, and eat your turkies, watch your football, and fall asleep on your relatives' couches! And do it proudly! Because you are all part of the cool club who celebrates Thanksgiving!

Very Much Love To You All!!!

P.S. If you're going out for a wild Black Friday shopping spree, for God's sake, don't trample anyone or get trampled!