Finding out American culture through Thanksgiving Day

Aiming PennSchool students to become global citizens with the broadmind and integration with the world, PennSchool always appreciates the addition of knowledge and experience through cultural activities and events.

Thanksgiving Day is an official annual holiday celebrated in some countries in the Americas. The meaning of this day is to celebrate a bountiful harvest and thank God for a peaceful life. Thanksgiving Day is also the beginning of the Christmas season.

In the USA, Thanksgiving is celebrated on Thursday – the fourth week of November. Thanksgiving originated from the celebration in Plymouth, Massachusetts, USA – where British religious refugee pilgrims invited Native Indians to a harvest party after a good harvest. The previous year’s harvest failed, and in the winter of 1620, half of the pilgrims starved to death. Luckily survivors were taught by the Wampanoag tribe on how to grow corn, beans, pumpkins, and catch fishes.

On Thanksgiving Day, people in the US or Canada usually have 4 days off. This is a great time for families to meet and enjoy the traditional food. This is also an opportunity for people to give each other meaningful gifts to show their respect with elders, friends, family and colleagues.

PennSchool students have an experiential day to find out the culture of this special holiday through fun classroom activities.

The students can be creative freely through various activities such as drawing a family tree, making a turkey – the typical symbol of this day, and participating in group activities with Thanksgiving Bingo cards, making traditional pumpkin pie… Activities help students make memories, build solidarity and develop coordination skills with their peers.

Thanksgiving Day is always an important holiday of the year and is a cultural feature of the United States. Through these activities, House of Eagles has more general knowledge about history, culture and gives opportunities for students to prepare for their study abroad plans and to explore the world in the future.