Growing up in France, I celebrated eleven national holidays: New Years Day (Jour de l’An), Easter (Pâques), Labour Day (Fête du Travail), VE Day (La Fête de la Victoire), Ascension Day (l’Ascension), Whit Mon (Lundi de la Pentecôte), Bastille Day (Fête Nationale), Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary (l’Assomption), All Saints’ Day (La Toussaint), Veteran’s Day (Armistice) and Christmas (Noël)—but Thanksgiving was not one of them.
Thanksgiving is not celebrated in France (or anywhere in Europe really)—and the majority of French people don’t even know it exists, nor do they understand its significance. The only people who may vaguely know of it have acquired their knowledge from Hollywood movies, or specifically from the TV show Friends (which has become a cultural phenomenon in France)—Joey getting his head stuck in a turkey is the most signigicant thing my French relatives associate with Thanksgiving.
Thanksgiving is primarily associated with the United States and Canada, which are essentially the only two countries that celebrate it every year. This tradition has roots in colonial America, during which colonists shared feasts with the Natives upon their arrival in 1621. Although this celebration has lost most of its religious significance, it remains centered on giving thanks and sharing a lavish meal with family members.
Discovering this holiday after moving to the United States was a major culture shock, and it took a couple of years for my family to fully comprehend the meaning behind it.
My very first Thanksgiving went like this: we used the day off to sleep, watch movies and walk around the park. We had no turkey or stuffing for dinner and no family came down to visit us. It was not the typical American picture of this day, but I still remember spending an enjoyable day with my family, especially with my parents, who I could rarely see because of their work commitments.
After settling in the U.S. and accustoming ourselves to the culture over the next year, we learned more about the traditional Thanksgiving festivities. We became good friends with a family that lived down the street from our house and they helped us acclimate to American life. When our second Thanksgiving came around, our family friends were so shocked that we had no plans so they invited us over to celebrate with them. This was my first real Thanksgiving: sweet potatoes, stuffing, gravy, green bean casserole, cranberry sauce, pumpkin pie—I had never eaten any of those before! It was also the first time in my life I had ever felt so full.
Since then, it has become a tradition: every year my family and I spend Thanksgiving at our family friends’ house and it has grown to be one of our favorite holidays (after Christmas of course)! We may not spend Thanksgiving with our immediate family, but by sharing a meal with our friends for the past ten years, they have grown to be part of our family too. Looking back, I wish I had celebrated Thanksgiving throughout my whole childhood back in France. The essence of this celebration brings about joy and a sense of gratitude for all that we have in life that I wish I could share with all of my family back home.
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