# Any non-US folks celebrating Thanksgiving today? **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [November 25, 2010, 8:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-non-us-folks-celebrating-thanksgiving-today/561920 "2010-11-25T20:49:37Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![John\_Mace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_mace/32/185_2.png) [@John\_Mace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_Mace)\ **Post date:** [November 25, 2010, 8:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-non-us-folks-celebrating-thanksgiving-today/561920/1 "2010-11-25T20:49:37Z")
And by non-US I mean people who are neither from the US nor living in the US. And it doesn’t count if you lived here for awhile and carried the tradition with you. Being the cultural imperialists that we are, we like to think our traditions are universal, so I’m just wondering if there is anything to this at all. So let us know what you think. Wouldn’t you just love to eat a nice turkey dinner today with cranberry sauce, sweet potatoes, stuffing and the rest? ---
**Author:** ![perfectparanoia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/a5b964/32.png) [@perfectparanoia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/perfectparanoia)\ **Post date:** [November 25, 2010, 8:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-non-us-folks-celebrating-thanksgiving-today/561920/2 "2010-11-25T20:53:28Z")
Been there done that. October 10th was Thanksgiving here (Canada). I just like the fact that all our customers are off today and tomorrow. Nice and quiet here. ---
**Author:** ![Broomstick](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/broomstick/32/246_2.png) [@Broomstick](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Broomstick)\ **Post date:** [November 25, 2010, 9:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-non-us-folks-celebrating-thanksgiving-today/561920/3 "2010-11-25T21:03:29Z")
Look like [SecondJudith](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=586376) over in the UK has something planned… ---
**Author:** ![Alessan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alessan/32/465_2.png) [@Alessan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alessan)\ **Post date:** [November 25, 2010, 9:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-non-us-folks-celebrating-thanksgiving-today/561920/4 "2010-11-25T21:19:19Z")
I’m celebrating it tomorrow. I mean, I’m a U.S. citizen, and my parents grew up in the States, but my wife loves Thanksgiving - mainly because it gives her an excuse to cook a whole turkey. I’m in favor of adapting holidays purely for their food. We also celebrate St. Patrick’s Day, 4th of July and Cinqo de Maio. ---
**Author:** ![John\_Mace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_mace/32/185_2.png) [@John\_Mace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_Mace)\ **Post date:** [November 25, 2010, 9:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-non-us-folks-celebrating-thanksgiving-today/561920/5 "2010-11-25T21:27:22Z")
> [@Alessan](#): > > I’m celebrating it tomorrow. I mean, I’m a U.S. citizen, and my parents grew up in the States, but my wife loves Thanksgiving - mainly because it gives her an excuse to cook a whole turkey. > > I’m in favor of adapting holidays purely for their food. We also celebrate St. Patrick’s Day, 4th of July and Cinqo de Maio. Cinco. 😉 So, were you born in Israel or the US? ---
**Author:** ![Cunctator](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/43a26b/32.png) [@Cunctator](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cunctator)\ **Post date:** [November 25, 2010, 9:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-non-us-folks-celebrating-thanksgiving-today/561920/6 "2010-11-25T21:36:42Z")
It’s celebrated in [Norfolk Island](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Norfolk_Island) as a result of historical links with American whalers. They have it on the last Wednesday in November (so two days ago now): [link](http://www.ag.gov.au/www/agd/agd.nsf/Page/TerritoriesofAustralia_NorfolkIsland_NorfolkIslandInformationandServices#Public) (scroll to the bottom for the part on public holidays). As for the rest of Australia, its celebration is restricted to American ex-pats. ---
**Author:** ![John\_Mace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_mace/32/185_2.png) [@John\_Mace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_Mace)\ **Post date:** [November 25, 2010, 9:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-non-us-folks-celebrating-thanksgiving-today/561920/7 "2010-11-25T21:44:50Z")
> [@Cunctator](#): > > As for the rest of Australia, its celebration is restricted to American ex-pats. Yeah, in that part of the world it would actually be a little weird. Celebrate the harvest when you’ve just put this year’s crop in the ground. ---
**Author:** ![Alessan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alessan/32/465_2.png) [@Alessan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alessan)\ **Post date:** [November 25, 2010, 9:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-non-us-folks-celebrating-thanksgiving-today/561920/8 "2010-11-25T21:48:31Z")
> [@John\_Mace](#): > > Cinco. 😉 > > So, were you born in Israel or the US? I was born here in Israel, but I lived in the U.S. between the ages of 1 and 6, which is why my first language is English. My parents are from New Jersey. They came to Israel after college, had me and then moved back for five years before settling here for good. ---
**Author:** ![Implicit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/6a8cbe/32.png) [@Implicit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Implicit)\ **Post date:** [November 25, 2010, 10:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-non-us-folks-celebrating-thanksgiving-today/561920/9 "2010-11-25T22:17:56Z")
I’m watching football, does that count? ---
**Author:** ![penultima\_thule](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/penultima_thule/32/3833_2.png) [@penultima\_thule](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/penultima_thule)\ **Post date:** [November 25, 2010, 11:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-non-us-folks-celebrating-thanksgiving-today/561920/10 "2010-11-25T23:35:04Z")
> [@John\_Mace](#): > > Yeah, in that part of the world it would actually be a little weird. Celebrate the harvest when you’ve just put this year’s crop in the ground. True, but we have plenty of red fur lined coats and reindeer and northern winter fare on the table for Christmas, which is much more incongruous. Not having the well defined seasons make events flow into another. Here winter cereals are generally planted May, June and harvesting begins early December in the north. Pumpkins are planted after last frost, say July and are in season now. You’ve got the stone fruits starting to come into season now. When I was out in the country the church in our little hamlet had “harvest festivals” either early December or around Easter. ---
**Author:** ![carnivorousplant](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnivorousplant/32/3563_2.png) [@carnivorousplant](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carnivorousplant)\ **Post date:** [November 26, 2010, 12:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-non-us-folks-celebrating-thanksgiving-today/561920/11 "2010-11-26T00:23:51Z")
> [@Alessan](#): > > I’m in favor of adapting holidays purely for their food. “Somebody tried to kill us, they didn’t, Let’s eat!” 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![footballisplayedwithyourfeet](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/9f8e36/32.png) [@footballisplayedwithyourfeet](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/footballisplayedwithyourfeet)\ **Post date:** [November 26, 2010, 10:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-non-us-folks-celebrating-thanksgiving-today/561920/12 "2010-11-26T10:45:14Z")
Apart from Expats i’d be very surprised if anyone in Europe (or even the World, but I’ll stick to what I know) celebrated Thanksgiving. And yes, I would love some turkey with cranberry sauce, I’d even watch the Rugby in protective gear for that 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![tagos](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/bbe5ce/32.png) [@tagos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tagos)\ **Post date:** [November 26, 2010, 2:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-non-us-folks-celebrating-thanksgiving-today/561920/13 "2010-11-26T14:05:01Z")
> [@footballisplayedwithyourfeet](#): > > Apart from Expats i’d be very surprised if anyone in Europe (or even the World, but I’ll stick to what I know) celebrated Thanksgiving. Of course we don’t celebrate Thanksgiving. :rolleyes: ---
**Author:** ![SanVito](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sanvito/32/2805_2.png) [@SanVito](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SanVito)\ **Post date:** [November 26, 2010, 2:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-non-us-folks-celebrating-thanksgiving-today/561920/14 "2010-11-26T14:10:19Z")
> [@John\_Mace](#): > > So let us know what you think. Wouldn’t you just love to eat a nice turkey dinner today with cranberry sauce, sweet potatoes, stuffing and the rest? Well, yeah, obviously, who wouldn’t like a day off to stuff your face? But that’s what Christmas is for. They were discussing it yesterday on BBC London radio (as one of the hosts is American and obviously in London there’s a lot of US expats celebrating). The British host was asking if it’s as big as Christmas, and the US host said it was way bigger. Is that really true? Because in the UK, Christmas lasts from late October onwards. So, no, we don’t celebrate Thanksgiving, or know anything about it apart from what we’ve seen in US films. Do you celebrate Bonfire Night on Nov 5th? ---
**Author:** ![Wallenstein](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/b5a626/32.png) [@Wallenstein](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wallenstein)\ **Post date:** [November 26, 2010, 2:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-non-us-folks-celebrating-thanksgiving-today/561920/15 "2010-11-26T14:11:47Z")
I’ve celebrated Thanksgiving in the UK before but only with American friends. ---
**Author:** ![Broomstick](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/broomstick/32/246_2.png) [@Broomstick](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Broomstick)\ **Post date:** [November 26, 2010, 3:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-non-us-folks-celebrating-thanksgiving-today/561920/16 "2010-11-26T15:26:31Z")
> [@SanVito](#): > > The British host was asking if it’s as big as Christmas, and the US host said it was way bigger. Is that really true? Because in the UK, Christmas lasts from late October onwards. For some families it certainly is, after all, not everyone is Christian but Thanksgiving is (at least in theory) a secular holiday open to all regardless of religion. Also, it’s earlier in the cold season so travel is easier than near the end of December, and a lot of people have Friday as well as Thursday off, so it’s handy for visiting relatives. Thus, the day before Thanksgiving is THE busiest travel day in the US. For most families it is _at least_ as big a Christmas and for many bigger than Christmas, though of course, like anything else about the US, you can find lots of exceptions. ---
**Author:** ![aruvqan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aruvqan/32/2891_2.png) [@aruvqan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aruvqan)\ **Post date:** [November 26, 2010, 4:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-non-us-folks-celebrating-thanksgiving-today/561920/17 "2010-11-26T16:59:41Z")
Not sure, but I may convert someone next year =) I have an online friend from Denmark that has never eaten turkey at all :eek: so we are going to try and meet up next summer while mrAru and I am in Germany so I can cook a turkey. Since I do not believe I will have access to a full kitchen, I am figuring I can spatchcock the bird and cook it on a grill. I am figuring I can also make dressing by thoroughly cooking the aromatics [celery and onion] and making a strong stock and combining the bread cubes and such and bundling it all up in foil to cook over the coals, and canned ocean spray cranberry sauce … he already knows what potatoes taste like =) I have checked and I can get the turkey at the commissary at Ramstein Air base =) Of course if I can use a friends flat while he is out of the country for cooking, Ill do it traditional american style =) ---
**Author:** ![twickster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ec9cab/32.png) [@twickster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/twickster)\ **Post date:** [November 26, 2010, 5:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-non-us-folks-celebrating-thanksgiving-today/561920/18 "2010-11-26T17:13:21Z")
In honor of the biggest (U.S.) travel week of the year, I’ll moving this Cafe Society --\> MPSIMS. ---
**Author:** ![John\_Mace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_mace/32/185_2.png) [@John\_Mace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_Mace)\ **Post date:** [November 26, 2010, 6:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-non-us-folks-celebrating-thanksgiving-today/561920/19 "2010-11-26T18:08:27Z")
> [@twickster](#): > > In honor of the biggest (U.S.) travel week of the year, I’ll moving this Cafe Society –\> MPSIMS. I think this is my first thread to have been moved to that forum. Is there a support group to help with the blow to one’s self-esteem? 🙂 > [@SanVito](#): > > They were discussing it yesterday on BBC London radio (as one of the hosts is American and obviously in London there’s a lot of US expats celebrating). The British host was asking if it’s as big as Christmas, and the US host said it was way bigger. Is that really true? Because in the UK, Christmas lasts from late October onwards. Well, there’s the Christmas season, which does last from Oct (or earlier) til Christmas, and then there’s the actual feast itself. For most people, I think Thanksgiving is bigger, but they tend to be about the same in terms of foods served. Maybe a few more dishes for Thanksgiving. And, as was already mentioned, Thanksgiving is entirely secular. You can make it religious if you want, but it doesn’t have to be. It’s a big family get together day. ---
**Author:** ![bucketybuck](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/898d66/32.png) [@bucketybuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bucketybuck)\ **Post date:** [November 26, 2010, 6:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-non-us-folks-celebrating-thanksgiving-today/561920/20 "2010-11-26T18:21:36Z")
> [@Alessan](#): > > I’m in favor of adapting holidays purely for their food. We also celebrate St. Patrick’s Day… Food? And no, I have never celebrated, nor been anywhere that even registered that it was Thanksgiving. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-non-us-folks-celebrating-thanksgiving-today/561920.md?page=2)