?? Family

Thanksgiving is usually celebrated by getting together with lots of family, including grandparents, aunts, uncles and cousins. The meal is held in one family’s home, and it is common for guests to bring drinks, snacks and desserts. Because Thanksgiving is close to Christmas, families can spend one holiday with the mother’s family and the other holiday with the father’s family. University students can invite boyfriends, girlfriends or friends whose families live too far away to come home with them for the holiday.

虎虎那天還在想，感恩節(jié)大家會上哪兒聚會呢。Alison說感恩節(jié)才不是神馬用來聚會的咧，是像咱的中秋元宵一樣的，全家團聚在一起吃飯的家庭大集會！在餐桌上，很多時候都能看到上圖中這個長得像蛋筒（是羊角吧?。┮粯拥臇|東，這個叫做“cornucopia”，是專門用來放水果的，非常有特色吧。

不過和咱喜歡吃一頓豐盛的晚餐不一樣，美國人通常是把重頭戲放在午餐的時候。下午的時候就是全家一起看看電視聊聊天，或者去家里的backyard打打橄欖球之類的家族活動啦。嗯，這么看來感恩節(jié)那天虎虎是不是應(yīng)該和咱家C.C一起過，羞澀……

?? Food

The first image that comes to mind when people think about Thanksgiving is a big, fat turkey. Turkeys are indeed enormous; the average Thanksgiving turkey is 15 pounds, or 6.8 kilograms. (This means that people have to eat turkey sandwiches for weeks after Thanksgiving!) The meal, often held in the late afternoon, also includes mashed potatoes with gravy, bread rolls, stuffing (which can be cooked inside the turkey), cranberry sauce, sweet corn, and other seasonal vegetables like sweet potato and green beans. For dessert, pumpkin pie is most popular, although many families enjoy other kinds of pie as well, such as apple pie, pecan pie or blueberry pie.

當(dāng)然啦，一說起感恩節(jié)，虎虎的腦中就浮現(xiàn)出一只鴕鳥大小的動物（喂喂火雞不是鴕鳥啊?。：孟氤曰痣u啊，嘴都饞了……為嘛在咱幅員遼闊廣袤無垠美麗富饒的中華大地上找不到火雞的蹤影！不過說起來，為什么感恩節(jié)要吃火雞呢？Alison美女告訴了俺一個簡單易懂的原因：因為……火雞多……

好吧，多么實在的回答啊……勞動人民光榮?。ㄟ@讓虎虎不由得想起，萬圣節(jié)感恩節(jié)都吃南瓜難道也是因為南瓜多么?。?/p>

此外，火雞在美國還被稱為“Tom Turkey”哦，因為據(jù)說公火雞（嗯……雄火雞？）的名字就叫做Tom……世上千千萬萬的Tom啊該是為乃們高興還是悲哀呢。

?? Activities

After the meal, families relax and spend time together, sometimes watching American football games or Thanksgiving Day parades on television.
Thanksgiving is also a time to volunteer or donate your time and money to charities. As people reflect on the blessings in their lives, they are inspired to help those who may be going through difficult times. Many churches and community organizations hold free dinners where people volunteer to buy, cook and serve the food. People also organize “food drives” where canned and packaged food is donated, collected and given to those in need. Also, companies and organizations can hold charity events, where employees, friends and families can pay to attend a dinner or dance and all of the money is donated to a charity.

說起為何感恩節(jié)的聚餐會選擇放在中午，Alison告訴虎虎說，因為這時候正好是美國的football season啦，所以吃完午飯全家會坐在電視機前一起看球賽。

此外，在感恩節(jié)這天，很多教堂會組織聚會，志愿者們會準(zhǔn)備，烹飪食物，即使是那些并沒有宗教信仰的人，或者任何由于經(jīng)濟原因沒有辦法歡度感恩節(jié)的人，都可以來到教堂，和所有人濟濟一堂共度這個節(jié)日哦。如此一來“志愿者”就是非常重要的一個組成部分了。在美國，如果你說自己沒有參加過志愿者活動的話，人家可能會偷偷地用BS的眼神看著你說“啊，這樣啊?！?/p>

最后要說的就是募捐（donation）啦，雖然在平時也會有各種募捐活動，但是感恩節(jié)這一天會格外地?zé)狒[呢。對于美國人來說，“thanksgiving”，相較于“thanks”，它的意義更大的是在“giving”上面^^

說了這么多，大家對感恩節(jié)有沒有一個全新的認(rèn)識呢？如果還想了解更多的話，就來參加咱的感恩節(jié)第二波活動：外教面對面 感受地道感恩節(jié)>>