感恩节：聚餐为何在中午

感恩节知识扫盲：聚餐为何在中午

感恩节是要谢谁？

History

Traditionally, Thanksgiving is a time "to give thanks" for a plentiful harvest, because it is celebrated on the last Thursday of November at the end of the harvest season。

However, the history of Thanksgiving is not clear, because the harvest season is celebrated in many countries and cultures. Americans commonly celebrate the first harvest of the "pilgrims", or the first colonists to settle in North America, in 1621. Many colonists came to the New World for religious freedom, because England did not allow diversity in religion. Native Americans and colonists did not always live together peacefully, but they did learn from each other by trading goods and farming methods. So many people celebrate the first successful harvest of the colonists。

我们最初知道“感恩节”，是关于“五月花号”(Mayflower)的故事。据说那时候不堪忍受英国国内宗教迫害的一群清教徒到达美洲。当时，美国的印第安人给移民送来了生活必需品，还特地派人教他们怎样狩猎、捕鱼和种植玉米、南瓜。于是，最初为了感谢美洲原住民，诞生了这么一个节日。

如今的原住民还是生活在美国各处，他们有自己的tribe，以及自己的tribal law，有些原住民也会走出自己祖先的土地和所有其他美国人一起读书，不过一眼就能看出他们和美国人长得实在相差很多，是比较接近亚洲人的长相哦。

Thankfulness

Traditionally, Thanksgiving is a religious holiday, as a time to give thanks to God for the blessings in one's life. People can be thankful for things like their good health, the safety of their families, or having good friends. All of these things are called "blessings", or things that God has given us。

For Americans who are not religious, thankfulness is just a feeling of gratitude. It is easy to forget how lucky we are, so Thanksgiving is a time to be reminded of the priceless things in our lives. Many families talk about what they are thankful for as they are sitting around the dinner table before they start the meal。

据外国朋友的描述，全家聚在一起坐在餐桌前，在正式开动之前，每个人会先说一番话来回顾自己这一年，遇到了哪些值得感谢的事情。其实有的时候，我们身边从来不缺少值得感谢的事情，怀着一颗感恩的心面对每一天，生活也会变得温暖阳光起来吧。

感恩节吃啥玩啥？

Family

Thanksgiving is usually celebrated by getting together with lots of family, including grandparents, aunts, uncles and cousins. The meal is held in one family's home, and it is common for guests to bring drinks, snacks and desserts. Because Thanksgiving is close to Christmas, families can spend one holiday with the mother's family and the other holiday with the father's family. University students can invite boyfriends, girlfriends or friends whose families live too far away to come home with them for the holiday。

感恩节大家会上哪儿聚会呢？外国朋友说，感恩节才不是用来聚会的呢，是像咱的中秋元宵一样的，全家团聚在一起吃饭的家庭大集会！在餐桌上，很多时候都能看到长得像蛋筒一样的“cornucopia”，是专门用来放水果的，非常有特色吧。

不过和咱喜欢吃一顿丰盛的晚餐不一样，美国人通常是把重头戏放在午餐的时候。下午的时候就是全家一起看看电视聊聊天，或者去家里的backyard打打橄榄球之类的家族活动啦。

Food

The first image that comes to mind when people think about Thanksgiving is a big, fat turkey. Turkeys are indeed enormous; the average Thanksgiving turkey is 15 pounds, or 6.8 kilograms. (This means that people have to eat turkey sandwiches for weeks after Thanksgiving!) The meal, often held in the late afternoon, also includes mashed potatoes with gravy, bread rolls, stuffing (which can be cooked inside the turkey)， cranberry sauce, sweet corn, and other seasonal vegetables like sweet potato and green beans. For dessert, pumpkin pie is most popular, although many families enjoy other kinds of pie as well, such as apple pie, pecan pie or blueberry pie。

此外，火鸡在美国还被称为“Tom Turkey”，因为据说公火鸡的名字就叫做Tom。

Activities

After the meal, families relax and spend time together, sometimes watching American football games or Thanksgiving Day parades on television. Thanksgiving is also a time to volunteer or donate your time and money to charities. As people reflect on the blessings in their lives, they are inspired to help those who may be going through difficult times. Many churches and community organizations hold free dinners where people volunteer to buy, cook and serve the food. People also organize "food drives" where canned and packaged food is donated, collected and given to those in need. Also, companies and organizations can hold charity events, where employees, friends and families can pay to attend a dinner or dance and all of the money is donated to a charity。

说起为何感恩节的聚餐会选择放在中午，外国朋友告诉小编说，因为这时候正好是美国的football season啦，所以吃完午饭全家会坐在电视机前一起看球赛。

此外，在感恩节这天，很多教堂会组织聚会，志愿者们会准备烹饪食物，即使是那些并没有宗教信仰的人，或者任何由于经济原因没有办法欢度节日的人，都可以来到教堂，和所有人济济一堂共度这个节日哦。如此一来“志愿者”就是非常重要的一个组成部分了。在美国，如果你说自己没有参加过志愿者活动的话，人家可能会偷偷地用BS的眼神看着你说“啊，这样啊。”

最后要说的就是募捐(donation)啦，虽然在平时也会有各种募捐活动，但是感恩节这一天会格外地热闹呢。对于美国人来说，“thanksgiving”，相较于“thanks”，它的意义更大的是在“giving”上面。