Thanksgiving Day

Thanksgiving Day is the fourth Thursday of June165438+1October every year. Thanksgiving is an ancient festival created by the American people, and it is also a festival for Americans to reunite with their families, so Americans always feel very cordial when they mention Thanksgiving.

origin

The origin of Thanksgiving can be traced back to the beginning of American history. 1620, the famous "Mayflower" arrived in America with 102 Puritans who could not bear the persecution of English religion. In the winter at the turn of 1620 and 162 1, they encountered unimaginable difficulties and were hungry and cold. After winter passed, only 50 immigrants survived. At this time, the kind Indians brought necessities to the immigrants, and specially sent people to teach them how to hunt, fish and grow corn and pumpkins. With the help of Indians, the immigrants finally got a bumper harvest. On the day of celebrating the harvest, according to religious traditions and customs, immigrants set a day to thank God and decided to invite them to celebrate the festival together to thank the Indians for their sincere help.

On the first Thanksgiving, Indians and immigrants gathered together. They fired a salute at dawn, marched into a room used as a church, expressed their sincere thanks to God, then lit a bonfire and held a grand banquet. On the second and third days, wrestling, running, singing and dancing were held. The first Thanksgiving was a great success. Many of these celebrations have been circulated for more than 300 years and have been preserved to this day.

At first, there was no fixed date for Thanksgiving, which was decided temporarily by the states. It was not until 1863 after the independence of the United States that President Lincoln declared Thanksgiving a national holiday.

custom

On Thanksgiving Day, the whole country in America is very lively. Makeup parades, cultural performances and sports competitions are held everywhere in urban and rural towns, and schools and shops are also on holiday as required. Children also imitate the Indians in those days, wearing strange costumes, painting faces or wearing masks to sing and play the trumpet in the street. There were also many people in the church that day. According to custom, people should pray for gratitude here. Americans have been used to living independently since childhood. Go your separate ways. On Thanksgiving Day. They always try to get back from all over the world, and the whole family sits around, munching delicious turkey and chatting about the past, which makes people feel particularly cordial and warm. At the same time, hospitable Americans can't forget to invite friends, bachelors or people far away from home for a holiday on this day. Since18th century, the United States has had the custom of sending a basket of food to poor families. At that time, a group of young women wanted to choose a certain day of the year to do good deeds and thought Thanksgiving was the most suitable day. So as soon as Thanksgiving comes, they put on a basket of clean food and personally deliver it to the poor. It was widely known, and soon many people followed their example.

It is worth mentioning that. Thanksgiving food is very traditional. Every Thanksgiving, Americans eat a fat turkey. Turkey is the traditional main course of Thanksgiving. It used to be a wild bird living in North America, which became delicious poultry after being raised in large quantities, each of which could weigh 40 to 50 kilograms. Some places still have hunting grounds for people to hunt before Thanksgiving. Interested people can go to the hunting ground and spend some money to shoot some wild turkeys themselves and go home. Make the festival more interesting. There is also a certain emphasis on how to eat turkey. It needs to be roasted whole, the chicken skin is roasted to dark brown, and its stomach is stuffed with a lot of miscellaneous food such as broken bread. After serving, the host cut it with a knife and distributed it to everyone. Then everyone poured marinade and sprinkled with salt, which was very delicious. Besides turkey, Thanksgiving food also includes cranberry jam, sweet potato, corn, pumpkin pie, homemade bread, and various vegetables and fruits. These things are traditional food for Thanksgiving. The layout of the Thanksgiving table is also very distinctive. Housewives don't put flowers as usual, but fruits and vegetables. There is often a big pumpkin in the middle, and some apples, corn and dried fruits are piled around. Sometimes, people empty apples or pumpkins, put dried fruits with shells in them or light candles. Usually, the hostess can let guests into the living room after dinner, but she won't do so on Thanksgiving Day. Thanksgiving dinner is sweet. Everyone wants to stay at the table for a while. They are happy to recall the past while eating until the last candle burns out. After Thanksgiving dinner, some families often play some traditional games. On the first Thanksgiving, people had many recreational activities, such as dancing and competitions, some of which have been passed down to this day. There is a game called Cranberry Contest, in which a large bowl filled with cranberries is placed on the ground, and 4- 10 contestants sit together and each person gives out a needle and thread. At the beginning of the game, they threaded the needle first, then strung the cranberries one by one, and it took 3 minutes to arrive; Whoever pulls the longest rope will win the prize. As for the person who dresses the slowest, everyone jokingly gave him the worst prize. There is also an old corn game. It is said that this is handed down to commemorate the issue of five corn to each immigrant in the case of food shortage. During the game. People hid five corn in the house, and everyone looked for it separately. Five people who found corn took part in the competition, while others watched. At the beginning of the competition, five people quickly peeled corn kernels in a bowl, and whoever peeled them first won the prize. Then people who didn't take part in the competition guessed around the bowl how many corn kernels were in it, and the prize for the closest guess was given to a careless popcorn. People's favorite game is pumpkin race. Participants push pumpkins with small spoons. The rule is never to touch the pumpkin with your hands. The first person to reach the finish line wins the prize. The smaller the spoon used in the game, the more interesting the game is, which often makes everyone laugh. In addition to these activities, some families drive to the countryside for an outing or travel by plane during the festival, especially Plymouth Port, where immigrants settled in the past, is a place that tourists yearn for. There, you can see ships and Plymouth stones copied from may flower, and you can spend hours visiting immigrant villages. The immigrant village was built in imitation of that year. During the visit, there are also special personnel dressed as Christians to chat with tourists, giving people an immersive feeling. For many years, the custom of celebrating Thanksgiving has been passed down from generation to generation, with little change. Whether on the rocky west coast or on the beautiful and rich island of Hawaii, people celebrate Thanksgiving almost in the same way. This is a traditional festival that Americans of all faiths and nationalities should celebrate.