Happy Thanksgiving!

Throughout this week, the grocery markets, roads, and the airports are going to be the places in the States where you might see more crowds than usual. The fourth Thursday in November marks one of the biggest national holidays called “Thanksgiving” when family and/or friends get together to celebrate the day with a large meal, most commonly featuring roast turkey. Other activities include watching American football or Thanksgiving Day parades, engaging in traditions like the "Friendsgiving" meal, reflecting on what they are grateful for, or participating in charitable activities. Since the picture of American family has immensely changed for all these years, there are a variety of different ways for people from around the world to celebrate this big holiday.

Today, let us have fun with a couple of traditional Thanksgiving Trivia Quiz!

 

1.  The holiday's origins are thought to date back to ___ ___21 near what is now Cape Cod, Massachusetts. English colonists called P_________ are said to have invited the native American tribe named W_____________and shared a meal to celebrate their first harvest, which they had planted with the help of the tribe.        

2. Traditionally, the centerpiece of dinner is a roasted __________ that is normally served with sweet potatoes or y_______. Stuffing that fills the inside of the main dish is a mixture of bread cubes, onions, c__________y and herbs. On the side, mashed potato with gravy, green beans, huge chunk of ham with cr__________ sauce, mac & cheese, and creamy pumpkin soup are served. 

 

3.  So, do you think all that Americans do to celebrate Thanksgiving holiday is just having huge meals? Nope. On Thanksgiving morning, many people wake up early to run in local races (often for charity) called turkey ___________s. Other folks watch a Thanksgiving parade in person or on television. The largest and most iconic parade is the _____________'s Thanksgiving Day Parade in New York City.

 

    4.  Many families spend hours watching NFL (National Football League), college and even high school football games in person or on television. Traditionally, NFL teams in Dallas, T_________, and Detroit, Mi____________, host games.

 

    5.  Thanksgiving is not a fun time for turkeys in the United States. One of the country's funnier traditions is having the president of the United States ________________ one turkey. The lucky bird's life is spared and it spends its final years at Mount Vernon in V_______________, the former estate of the nation’s first president, George Washington.

 

    6.  The day after Thanksgiving is celebrated as a different type of holiday, known as B___________ Friday. Stores across the nation offer extended business hours, deep discounts, and special promotions. Quite a few businesses don't even wait until Friday for their sales to begin. They open their doors on Thanksgiving evening. Intrepid shoppers have been known to line up hours before shops open, eager to take advantage of steep discounts. Some crazy shoppers would go to the mall’s parking lot late at night of Thanksgiving and sleep in their cars to rush to the store on the daybreak of Friday. If they haven’t had a chance to cop anything good on Friday, they enjoy the last-minute shopping spree on the C___________ Monday.

 

 

ANSWER KEYS

1.     1621, Pilgrims, Wampanoag

2.     turkey, yam, cranberry

3.     trots, Macy’s

4.     Texas, Michigan

5.     pardon, Virginia

6.     Black, Cyber

     Here I am sharing a small piece of poem that I wrote when I visited a museum of Native American Tribes in Cleveland. To quite a lot of indigenous peoples, Thanksgiving could be the beginning of a sad history between the original owners and the invaders of the land.

An Ode to Cuyahoga Valley

by Jean Jiyoung Lee

 

Along the twists and turns of the river,

All the leaves dredged in summer green holler with pain.

Listening to their roar,

We were led back to the remnant of the old days slain.

 

Who was it wearing innocent smiles in the upland plateau?

When was it that the indefatigable spirit got ousted with tear?

The Great blue Heron in the valley gives you a magnificent wing span

quite pseudo,

But her eyes are telling you the past in fear.

 

Streaming sounds mixed in the waterfall

Echo the voice lost for good, I'd say.

Breezy forest full of weeping wild flowers so tall

Resembles the hopeless eyes of yesterday.