Craig Dodge - Blog

Most of the Taiwanese people I know are somewhat familiar with  Thanksgiving in America, but many are unclear on some of the details. When we talk about Thanksgiving here, people think of turkeys and eating a lot but that's about it. You can find many web sites that tell the Thanksgiving story, but I would like to add a few things about what the holiday means to me, and some of the things it has become in modern America.

When is Thanksgiving exactly? This question trips-up a lot of people I ask here. Thanksgiving falls on the 4th Thursday of November and is a 4-day holiday for most Americans.

For me, Thanksgiving is a time when I give thanks for all the wonderful people in my life. I try to show my appreciation for things that I sometimes take for granted and realize how lucky I really am.

My family always had an enormous meal on Thanksgiving, usually at my grandmother's house, with all the family members bringing food to share. There was always a turkey with stuffing, cranberry sauce, mashed potatos, fruit salad, apple and pumpkin pies and more. Because there is more food than anyone can eat in one day, we had leftovers for at least a week.

After dinner, many families will move to the living room to watch TV. For sports fans, there are many big football games to watch on TV. For those who don't like to watch football, they can watch Macy's Department Store's famous Thanksgiving Day Parade.

Thanksgiving is also the unofficial beginning of the Christmas season. Since it's a 4-day holiday for most people, they use the time to decorate their house for Christmas, like setting up the Christmas tree, which for many is a special event in itself with certain traditions.

The Friday after Thanksgiving is known as "Black Friday", but the reason why might surprise you. It's not about being sad that the holiday is over, but it has to do with being the day when most people start their Christmas shopping and therefore is the busiest shopping day of the year. It is called "Black Friday" because of how companies record their profits and losses. When a company loses money, the numbers are written in red, but when they make money, the numbers are written in black. How much money stores make on the Friday after Thanksgiving will determine whether they have a profit or loss for the whole year.

So, anyway, to all my friends and family in Taiwan and around the world, I wish everyone a Happy Thanksgiving.