Reading/Writing
Level IV
Grant Wolf, Instructor

Student Essays on Thanksgiving

I heard Thanksgiving Day is one of the most big holiday in America. And after this thanksgiving Day, I felt that was true. Every family comes together at their parents house, and talk about their safety. Besides, on Thanksgiving Day, they have a big party. Usually, they cook a big turkey and many kinds of dessert such as pumpkin pie. And they have a nice holiday with their family.

The origin of Thanksgiving Day is interesting. When the Pilgrams, who were a group of people from England, arrived in America in the 1600's. Some Indians helped them. The Indians taught them how to plant some grain such as corn, vegetables and pumpkin. And then, they became friends. So, after that, the Pilgrims had a party for Indian friends once a year. This is the origin of Thanksgiving Day. But I think, one thing is very strange. When the first Americans settled in America, the Indians helped them from their heart. But, after a hundred year, Americans killed so many Indians for their any goals. I don't know the detailed history, but I couldn't understand why American had to kill Indians who were their friends.

Anyway, I could feel many things about Thanksgiving Day. Especially, on this holiday, a big bargain sale was very surprising for me. The day after Thanksgiving Day, which is called "Black Friday", almost every store shows their the most cheap prices. And almost every American goes shopping to catch the most cheap goods which they wanted before. Of couse, I participated in this "Shopping War". But I went shopping on Sunday, so I couldn't buy many things, because many goods were sold out already. But it was a nice experience on Thanksgiving Holiday.

In Korea, there is a very similar holiday which we call "Chu-suk". This holiday also expresses thankfulness for our ancestors. It means we are thankful for harvest for one year. So, almost all Koreans come together with their family who they couldn't meet for a long time, and we have a ancestor-memorial servise with many kinds of food which are a good harvest in this year. Chu-suk is almost the same holiday as Thanksgiving Day. So, when I saw my homestay family, who were very happy because they met their sons and grandsons, I missed my family who are in my county. Every human seems to feel thankfulness for their ancestors, and once a year, they celebrate their good havest and health. The shape of holiday is a little different but I think the mind about thankfulness seems to be same.

Yoon, Sang-min (SAM)

All of the last weekend, I was thinking about the meaning of Thanks Giving because I only saw and heard people who were waiting for this day to travel or go shopping. I think that this day is more than that.

Unfortunately, I couldn't be present in a American home and see how they celebrate this day. I had a dinner with Peruvian people, so It was like Christmas dinner.

When I live in Peru, people talked about this day in the United State, an I thought that we should have it too because it is important to thank God for all of that he has given us, and I still think the same. The Government should create this holiday in my country.

I think that during recent years, the customs are changing; these changes are not in a good way. People see holidays like entertainment and I'm not an exception. Most of them can be, but holidays like Christmas or Thanks Giving shouldn't be. I don't know when we start to change our perspective about important holidays, but I think that it is time to recover it.

I am sure that there are people who really live this holiday how it should be, but I couldn't see it. I would like the next year to have the opportunity.

Lorena Mardini

What I am thankful for

When do we think about what we are thankful for? I think that we think about this when we meet with a setback or someone celebrates our birthday or promotion with a party and so on. We are living without noticing it everyday. Even if we are aware of it, we don't take time to think about it again everyday. However, when we meet with a setback or someone celebrates something about us, we never fail to think about it because these things are unusual, and because of people who helped us or celebrate us, we could feel a kind of happiness.

As for me, I am thankful for everyone whom I know, and especially my parents and friends. My parents have raised me since I was born. I don't have a child, so I can't tell how hard it is to raise a child, but I think it was very hard to raise me because I was a rascal. I wasn't thankful for my parents until I was a high school student because I thought my parents were bothersome in everything. They wanted me to be well-behaved. However, at that time, I couldn't tell all of those things were just for me. I came to realize these things after leaving them and living alone at my university. I had to do everything around me by myself. Nobody did those things unless I did them in society, but I have to learn them by myself from now on. I'll do my best everyday with gratitude for allowing me to do anything that I want to do and considering that they are supporting me every time.

Next, I'm very proud of my best friends. There are some things that we can't talk about with our parents. Even if we could, there are some things that we had better talk about with our friends. Also, when we meet with a setback, our friends think about our problems as if those are their own problems and give us advice. In addition, they could help me a lot, they could make me happy, I could have a great time with them and I would be impressed, encouraged and moved by them before everything. My friends are my precious treasure in my life.

I'm sure I am thankful for them, but I am living without thinking about it everyday. It is important to have a break and think about it sometimes because we can get power from them and be cheerful. Besides, it will come to be easier to be motivated by thinking about it or talking with them. So, I think Thanksgiving holiday is great. There is a similar holiday in my country. It means that we have to be thankful for our family and how important it is to spend times with our family.

Through this journal, I could think about this again.

Anonymous

Thanksgiving Day is particular American holiday. Honestly, I can’t understand the holiday because I don’t have a sense of Thanksgiving Day. I Japan, we don’t have the day to thank for something. I have never experienced Thanksgiving Day, so this is the first time. In my opinion, Thanksgiving day is important for everyone. We spend every day without appreciation. However, we can’t live if someone doesn’t help us. Without farmers, we can’t eat anything. Today, society advances the division of labor. We can’t stand on our own feet. Therefore, we need the day to thank for everyone.

As I experienced Thanksgiving Day, I change the view of American people. When I touched American people, I felt that they were fierce individualists, so they didn’t take care of me. However, when Thanksgiving Day came, many Americans invited me for dinner. My host family called me. The homestay family of my friend asked the plan of Thanksgiving Day. These are very surprising for me. Until Thanksgiving Day, I though American people never help me if I don’t require help, and they didn’t like to help foreigners. Throughout Thanksgiving Day, my concept of American people changes expand more flexibly. Now, I can admit that some American people have hospitality. At that point I would like to thank America people.

Again, I think Thanksgiving Day is very useful for everyone regardless of nationality.

Koji Shirai

When I went to a camp for handicapped children, I realized how happy I am. I learned many things from the camp even though the camp work was so hard for me.

The children who came to the camp couldn’t move by themselves. They always needed someone’s help. I had to take care of my partner kid for three days. I had to take her in a wheelchair to the dining room, the rest room, and the bedroom.

Even if it was a very small task, it became a big task to them. For example, it takes just a couple of minutes to use a bathroom for us. But, it was a big task to them. They need help even to use a bathroom. In addition, they couldn’t take a shower by themselves. So, I helped my partner kid to take a shower.

After I came back home, I said to my mother, “Thank you for I was born with a healthy body.” And I’m really thankful to God that I can move by myself. When I see a beautiful sky, I’m thankful that I can see. Moreover, I feel thankful I can walk to go wherever I want to by myself.

Someone used to say if you hear a noisy sound, it means you can hear. Some people don’t know they are happy. I realized how happy I am after I had that experience with those children in camp.

Kim, Kyung-Hwa

My country has a holiday similar to Thanksgiving Day but just for children. Some holidays in my country are for children. Originally called Boys’ Festival, Children’s Day is to celebrate children in general and thanksgiving in general.

This special day is celebrated on May 5th. It is a traditional national holiday. Historically, it is a day to celebrate children, thanksgiving and it is part of our heritage.

Japanese children are especially excited when their family begins to prepare for the big day. Children’s parents or grandparents buy some gifts such as toys or educational books. Everyone at the celebration is ceremonially offered rice dumplings wrapped in bamboo leaves called Chimaki, and rice cakes wrapped in oak leaves called Kashiwa-Mochi.

Finally, the holiday was traditionally celebrated as the Boy’s Festival until immediately after World War II. Children’s Day is now celebrated for wishing all children happiness, prosperity and thanksgiving. I remember the holiday to be pleasant.

Kohei Kurita

I really like Thanksgiving dinner. I Thanksgiving Day, I visited my host family in New York. We have known each other for six years.

At the beginning of this session, they invited me to have dinner with them. It was the first time for me to experience the traditional event in the United States. My host family welcomed me very much.

At the beginning of the dinner, we started with some appetizer. First of all, my host family has five children. One of them started reading the Bible. And, we said to give thanks for something to each other. I gave thanks to my parents for giving me an opportunity to study in the United States and meeting a lot of people from different countries, which made me change a lot.

I couldn’t finish without saying just a few words, though it was great.

We had a big turkey, potatoes, pumpkins, cranberry sauce, spinach, gravy and pies. They were great.

We have the same kind of event in Japan on January first. New Year’s Day celebration means to celebrate New Year and to begin better year. From my point of view, there is no big event day to be thankful for everything in Japan. It depends on the country and tradition, but if we have a Thanksgiving Day in Japan, we can feel how lucky we are and should feel more thankful for daily life.

Now I started thinking about being thankful for my family and my life. It was a great opportunity for me to think about thanks for everything.

Keiko Sugiyama

Thanksgiving and Chu-Sok

Thanksgiving Day is just for family. Americans usually gather the whole family, and they take a rest, chat, watch football games and eat turkey with cranberry sauce, apple sauce or gravy on Thanksgiving Day. This day is a very important holiday in the U. S. A., and the concept of this day is thankfulness for harvests. However, it doesn’t only exist in the U.S.A. Korea has a similar holiday, too. That is Chu-Sok.

Chu-Sok is a big holiday in Korea like Thanksgiving Day. It is usually in August, but it can be changed because the holidays follow the lunar calendar. We usually eat the food which has been harvested, so it’s very varied, like a lot of seasoned food, rice cakes, Juns (like pizza) and fried dishes. Chu-Sok is a 3-day holiday. The first day is for preparing food, and next day is Chu-Sok, and the last day is just for family.

Chu-Sok has some similarity to Thanksgiving. At first, the two days are for family. When it is Chu-Sok, most Koreans go back to their hometown, so the traffic is always terrible. In addition, we usually make food for the holiday, together on the first day. All family members sit together, and they make food for the next day. Next, the main concept is the same. This is gratitude for the harvest of nature, and celebrating the harvest.

However, it has a difference between Chu-Sok and Thanksgiving. Thanksgiving is just for family, but Chu-Sok is not. Chu-Sok is for both family and ancestors. On the main day’s morning, we make a big meal table for thinking of our ancestors, and there are nameplates of ancestors on the end of the table. We make a deep boy to the table. After bowing to ancestors, we eat the food which is on the table a little bit. It’s for good luck. Then, we eat a big breakfast. After eating breakfast, we visit our ancestral graves.

In conclusion, Thanksgiving Day is for family, but Chu-Sok is for family and ancestors. However, these two holidays have similarities. The first one is their purpose. Both holidays are for family, so the people gather the whole family, and chat, relax, and enjoy the holiday. Next one is the concept of the holiday. Something is similar to Thanksgiving, something is not like this, but the main idea is the same. Most countries have their own holiday like Thanksgiving or Chu-Sok, and they have their own way to celebrate the holiday.

You-Jung (Ellie) Choi