Thanksgiving Traditions

As the holiday season is coming nearer each day, I found it appropriate to look further into the traditional Thanksgiving topic. I can only describe what my family does, my Puerto Rican and Caucasian family. As far as I can say, we are not necessarily traditional with our celebration of Thanksgiving. So I figured why not use this assignment as a way to further look into the holiday and how it is celebrated across America, this can mean anything from families celebrating it in their homes, to the retail shops of the country selling holiday/seasonal items to go along with the tradition. I would like to examine the traditions of thanksgiving.

This year I did not had a traditional Thanksgiving, but tell you the truth it never is in my home. I am borne and grew up in a different country, even in a different continent, where we had a different history and our holidays are somewhat different as well, with view exceptions of New Year on January 1 and Christmas, only the date is different, January 12th. The funniest question I get from people around the holiday is, “What do you cook in your country on Thanksgiving?” – I have no idea, DAH!!!

Some families do nothing and others throw a huge feast with family and friends. My family always throws a Thanksgiving gathering of family and close

This year Thanksgiving is on November 23,2017. Every year my family Thanksgiving is the best, to me at least. So we always have Thanksgiving at my Grandmas and Grandpas, but not this year we are having it at my house. Which I mean could be good and bad. Good is it is at my house so it’s cool and bad, the house has to be completely spotless or my mom will freak out. Normally what we do every year is we get my family together and have dinner, mess around, and watch football. This year my dad's brother is coming with his three daughters and his wife and my grandpa and grandma. I really can’t wait to see them all because I don't really see them that much as I would like to. When we have a family dinner like this we always have a lot of food for everyone.

Other families may celebrate by eating foods traditional to their culture. Some of my peers ate tamales and dumpling at their Thanksgivings. Other families do not cook at all, and simply go out to a restaurant to eat their Thanksgiving dinner. Others may simply have an odd dish, such as turducken or lasagna. Just as many people’s Thanksgiving would not be the same without turkey, their Thanksgivings would be very odd if they didn’t have these foods.

Most people's Thanksgivings are probably normal. Some people might not even celebrate Thanksgiving. My Thanksgivings are not normal at all there's a lot of crazy things that go on. I just wish one time we can have a normal Thanksgiving one time. But I still like what goes on at our Thanksgiving.

My ancestors, grandparents, were born in Haiti. My grandparents were the first to come to America. They left their country of birth because they were looking for a better life and a brighter future for their children and grandchildren. They were mistreated because of the color of their skin and they could not speak English. However, they did stop from reaching their goals of becoming nurses, doctors and engineers. Some even served in the US Army and others in the Air Force. At home, my parents teach us to speak Creole so we can be able to communicate with the rest of the family members who still leave back home in Haiti. It’s a tradition on New Year, we go to church and have midnight prayer for good luck. Interestingly, we had pumpkin

Apparently not! Some families would prefer having chicken or beef tamales for the main course. Others prefer stuffing a chicken filled duck inside of the turkey. Not my family. We eat ham and turkey as the main course. We pour Pepsi over our ham to add sweetness. Ham is our main course because turkey is to dry for us

We come together for anything. Traditionally meals were patterned after our Spanish customs, a big breakfast a large midday meal and a modest supper. My family always preferred home cooked meals. We always based are food around meat products, pork, chicken and

At thanksgiving I celebrate it with my grandparents and aunts and uncles because they always love to hang out at thanksgiving. We would all sit at a big dinner table with all the food on it and we would have to at least get a little bit of everything.Tara’s family comes to their house and they all sit at a big dinner table to celebrate their thanksgiving.Brian’s family does the same at his house,but they don’t really sit at a big dinner table because not all of his family comes so they eat at a little smaller one for

Cultural differences are interesting thing to learn. We can see some people’s culture similar to our and some people very different. My partner, Brook Deford, is an American student and he meets his family four times a year to have a dinner together. Christmas and Thanksgiving are the most special events for them and he goes to Orange County in Southern California to join the family dinner. They invite friends and neighbors and they have a typical American dinner such as pork chops with apple sauce and potatoes, sometimes barbecue or hamburgers.

I have discovered that people don’t share the same Thanksgiving traditions as me. Chicken, Duck, Turkey, and Turdunkin are all enjoyed as main course meals! Vegetables, mashed potatoes, rolls, cookies, ice cream, lemon pie, and blueberry pie bars are also enjoyed on Thanksgiving. Cookies, assorted pies, and blueberry pie bars are commonly enjoyed, and they actually sound pretty tasty! The favorite part of some people’s Thanksgiving feast would be the pie and rolls. Meals aren’t always eaten with family at the table. Some families sit on the couch, while they watch tv, or they eat at a fancy restaurant. Everyone has their own customs when it comes to the holidays.

Around Christmas my dad,uncle,grandpa,and my little brother experience going on,the boys shopping trip to the mall or to bass pro shop to bond well a couple of years ago,my mother and my father decided on getting a divorce and when it came to the shopping trip I was with my father,we asked my grandma if she could watch me,but,she couldn't,she needed to work so my grandpa just came up with the idea that I come along with them and we just make it a tradition that I start going on the shopping trip.The first year it was a ton fun,we went to bass pro shop and me and my grandpa hung out while my father shopped,we looked at the boats and he explained what some parts of the boat are and what their purpose is,he showed me what kind of boat he would buy if he could ever buy a new one,and then we bought ice cream.Some of the trip I walked around with my dad and we looked at guns,bows,and talked about what I wanted for Christmas,spoiler alert he got me a bb gun.When we switched stores and went to the mall,I hung out with my uncle,I'm not sure exactly sure what he bought my aunt,but we went to this jewelry place and he listened to my opinion on a bunch of different necklaces,rings, and earrings.

One of these is that on Thanksgiving everybody comes together to my parents’ house in New Jersey for a huge feast. On Christmas only my mother and the children (me and my brother) travel to Illinois to spend a week with my grandparents. On New Years Eve we all get together at my parents’ house in New Jersey and toast to the New Year with champagne and apple cider. During Labor Day weekend all of my family travels to South Jersey to my grandfathers’ condo. We usually spend all of our time on the beach and barbequing, except on Sunday when we go to church. After all, my grandfather is a minister. One of our biggest family traditions is going back to Puerto Rico. Every year my mother and I travel back to Puerto Rico for a portion of our summer vacation. Now that I am older I travel there more often and stay there much longer. My father never joins because he doesn’t like my mothers side of the father too much and he thinks that we when we speak Spanish we are all plotting against him. Of course that’s not true though. My bother doesn’t speak Spanish so he doesn’t like to go either. I guess that tradition is one that belongs solely to my mother and I.

There are holidays in every culture where the food is the focal point. For example, the most important tradition involving food in the U.S. is Thanksgiving. According to a 2015 poll, 95% of people in the U.S. spend Thanksgiving with their families.“Thanksgiving by the Numbers.” Fox Business, Fox Business, 23 Nov. 2016. This is because people in the U.S. grew up making memories with their families, and they want to make more memories with their children. These traditions are important to people because they make them nostalgic, so it’s necessary for people to take a break and spend time with their families.