By Marie Ghosn
For international people, Christmas comes around right after Halloween.
The city lights up in red and white, Christmas trees rise around every corner and holiday
songs take over department stores and supermarkets. Here in America, there is a small
transition between these two holidays, which is Thanksgiving.
As an international student, I knew Thanksgiving existed but I never really knew
what is was or how it was celebrated. The first lesson that I learned about it is that it is a
Family holiday. For the four-day weekend that we get, all of my international friends, and
myself, flew somewhere in the states to visit friends studying here while all of my American
friends flew all the way back home, whether it was to New York or Los Angeles. The second
lesson is that this holiday truly is what it is called: giving back and giving thanks. Although I
already had plans, I was offered to go celebrate the holiday at my friends’ houses with their
families, even by people I wasn’t that close to. For the international that stays on campus,
this holiday’s spirit is also at Penn with multiple “Friendsgiving” dinners and receptions. The
third and last lesson about Thanksgiving is Black Friday. As I’ve said earlier, I had already
heard that term before but never exactly knew what is was and what was the big fuss round
it. Now I know, and boy am I happy that I know about it. Black Friday is basically a big sale that brands
hold on Thanksgiving and it is when people start buying Christmas gifts. The best deals of Black
Friday are online because you don’t have to run through crowds of people to get what you want (yes, it
happens very frequently) and it extends over a week rather than a weekend.
Overall, Thanksgiving is a great holiday and I think that the rest of the world should
start celebrating it as well!