Thanksgiving Day

Spending Thanksgiving as a Korean

Thanksgiving  Day is a national holiday in the United States celebrated on the fourth Thursday of November. People gather around with their families and close friends to share a food that they cooked. Usually, people have roasted turkey, pies, and cranberry sauce as a dinner in Thanksgiving. Different from America, there is no Thanksgiving Day in Korea; therefore, when I first had my Thanksgiving day, I was astonished by the tradition and the food.

During my sophomore year, I was invited to my sister in law’s family Thanksgiving dinner. I was nervous and excited to meet her family and to celebrate my very first Thanksgiving day in America. My sister in law’s mother invited me and my brother over to her house, which was on Vashon Island. When I went to her house, the entire house was full of delicious smells. My sister in law’s mother offered us some crackers with cheese and apple cider. As she was finishing up the dishes, me, my brothers, and my nephew went out to play. We played with arrows for a while and we tried to chop woods for the fire. After a while, more of my sister in law’s families arrived and we spent time talking to each others. They also brought some foods that they prepared and shared it with people during dinner.

When the dinner was all ready to be served, everyone gathered around the table and grabbed their own plates. We were responsible for serving our own food from the big plates and sharing with the others. My favorite food among them was mashed potatoes with gravy sauce. It was savory and easy to eat, even though I was not familiar with American food at that time. While we were eating dinner, I was able to talk to my sister in law’s families and get to know them more. After talking to them more, I felt closer to them as a family and I was glad that I joined my sister in law’s families Thanksgiving day. Everyone in the house was joyful and loving, which made me feel even warm from the cold November weather. Therefore, I think Thanksgiving day in America is not only a day for appreciating and blessing the next harvest season, but also a meaningful day for people to gather around and share their love to each other.