What's Thanksgiving?

(I don't miss it)

I love Thanksgiving. It's my favorite holiday, all about food.

How did you celebrate it previously? Do American students all congregate somewhere in Cambridge?

Unrelatedly, I saw you at the Richard Wilson thing last week, but it was too jam-packed to say hi.

You forgot your pumpkin costume?

The first three years the people in the same scholarship program as me all over the UK ventured to London where we cooked an enormous dinner at an international student residence. Last year their new director decided that they shouldn't let the place get taken over by Americans, and it's been downhill since then.

The Cambridge Alumni Office organizes an annual Thanksgiving dinner. I have never been before, because I've had the thing in London. Last year the London event was cancelled too late so I ended up inviting my American friends to Thanksgiving at Nando's which was surprisingly fun.

So tomorrow I'm going to that. But I didn't realize that tomorrow actually was Thanksgiving. I thought it was next week, an easy enough mistake to make (it's frequently the last Thursday in November, but only because that is frequently the fourth Thursday), but a mistake I never would have made in America, because I would have been reminded all. the. time.

Sorry I missed you last week, matthewr.

I don't hang out with Americans much (not by choice... I just don't know very many).

Since living in Germany I have forgotten Thanksgiving almost every year except last year when I was home for the occasion. A few years ago for some reason I got the idea in my head that it fell on the 3rd Thursday of the month, not the last. Oh, how they laughed when I called home a week early to wish everyone a happy Thanksgiving.

What's Thanksgiving?

(I don't miss it)

It must be a hard life, hating America and all things American all the time. If we don't consume, the turrists have WON. DON'T YOU UNDERSTAND THAT?

I'm thankful for the fact t-giving isn't commercialized to hell the way Christmas is. I don't have to do anything but show up somewhere and ingest free food. Beats the hell out of the OMG HAF 2 GET PREZZIES, knock-down, drag-out, clawing-and-elbowing, beastly holiday crowds aspect of the big X. What I don't like is the name. "Thank" is a transitive verb; it requires an object. You are thanking someone; implicitly, "GOD". I would prefer a meaning that doesn't imply that someone in the sky is responsible for my life being pretty well awesome (and bunny-laden! hooray for MetaChat). Something like "Celebration Day" as in "celebrate your life and accomplishments", or just plain "Hooray Day!!!" (superfluous exclaimation points mandatory).

It must be a hard life, hating America and all things American all the time. If we don't consume, the turrists have WON. DON'T YOU UNDERSTAND THAT?

It is. Very hard :-) Just ask Jeremy Clarkson.

I am constantly put in that position of defending America/Americans/American stuff. I'm just not the best spokesman (being kind of a prickly person by nature).

"So, why did YOU invade Iraq?"

"I don't know, why did your mother raise such a dumbfuck?"

I'm thankful for the fact t-giving isn't commercialized to hell the way Christmas is. I don't have to do anything but show up somewhere and ingest free food. Beats the hell out of the OMG HAF 2 GET PREZZIES, knock-down, drag-out, clawing-and-elbowing, beastly holiday crowds aspect of the big X. What I don't like is the name. "Thank" is a transitive verb; it requires an object. You are thanking someone; implicitly, "GOD". I would prefer a meaning that doesn't imply that someone in the sky is responsible for my life being pretty well awesome (and bunny-laden! hooray for MetaChat). Something like "Celebration Day" as in "celebrate your life and accomplishments", or just plain "Hooray Day!!!" (superfluous exclaimation points mandatory).

Why do you hate America?

I love America. I love it so much that I've nearly been arrested three times for making love to it.

This New Zealander loves Thanksgiving. What can be better than hanging out with people you love, eating great food, and talking about what you're thankful for?

Of course, I realise my privilege there, in that I have lots of people I love, get to eat the good food, and am thankful for a lot of stuff. So I'm thankful for that, too.

chuck, give it a fucking break already. Goddamn. Just because you supposedly don't care (by saying you don't, then posting how thankful you are) about Thanksgiving, you sure are pissing all over everyone else's.

Sorry y'all. Ban me. Do what you have to do but someone had to say it. Fuck.

Having been in the office since 7am - leaving home at 6am in the cold and dark, trudging to the station with a heavy sack of files - and having just got home, after walking home uphill, carrying another heavy sack of files, I'm about to heat up some cold leftovers from the fridge for my dinner.

Yes, leftovers, not hot turkey with all the trimmings, followed by pumpkin pie. Leftovers.

And my satellite is broken, so I don't have TV. And it won't be fixed until next Wednesday.

And the baby Jeebus doesn't love me.

And England lost the big football match yesterday.

So there! Be thankful, you Yank bastards!!! Britain is suffering!!!!