Happy Thanksgiving, everyone! This is a holiday that is unique to America, because it celebrates a specific event in American history. Yes, other countries have their variations, but I'm gonna tell you about America's celebration of gratitude.
Here's how it all started: as virtually any American six-year-old can tell you, a group of people escaping religious persecution in England landed in Plymouth, Massachusettes in 1620. These people were Puritans, and are collectively referred to as Pilgrims. This new place where they chose to settle was cold, and many of the crops they brought with them wouldn't take hold in the foreign soil. That first winter was a hard one, and well over half of them died. Fortunately, local natives helped the new settlers find food that would grow, and they also helped them in hunting and fishing. After that first long, harsh winter, the remaining survivors had a feast of Thanksgiving; the feast celebrated their survival, their escape from persecution, and the help they received from the locals. The American Indians who helped them were invited to join in the feast, and records survive of the food they had: The main course was venison (five deer were brought by the natives), but there was also an abundance of seafood, corn, beans, and squash. Oh, and a few turkeys, but they weren't the focus of the meal the way they are today. Since the first Thanksgiving was celebrated after winter, it's likely it was celebrated in spring or early summer. As a holiday, the date of Thanksgiving was moved to November to coincide with the harvest, which is a more appropriate time to be celebrating the blessings the year has brought, and in holding with the harvest festivals that many immigrants had brought with them from their home countries in Europe.
Today, Thanksgiving is a celebration for families. It's uncommon to have Thanksgiving dinner just with the nuclear family unit; typically, aunts and uncles, cousins, siblings, and grandparents get together at one family member's home for dinner. In keeping with the traditions of celebrating the harvest and survival, the Thanksgiving celebration is a big meal. It makes sense for families to gather for this, because that way they can share in the responsibility of putting together such a large meal. Traditional dishes include turkey, stuffing, mashed potatoes, gravy, cranberries, and pumpkin pie. Each family has its own favorite side dishes, which likely include green bean casserole, squash, sweet potatoes, and corn as well as other family specialties. Some families also have ham, and in the American south you find a fascinating dish called tur-duc-hen, which is a de-boned stuffed chicken, inside a de-boned duck, inside a partially de-boned turkey. I've never had tur-duc-hen, but I'd be willing to give it a try.
Families get together and have one huge meal, and from my experience, the feast is usually between the usual hours of lunch and dinner. Many families eat at 2 or 3pm, and usually there's more than enough food to last for the rest of the day if anyone gets hungry again. In my family back in Tennessee, my sister makes the turkey and usually a couple other dishes, my sisters and brother bring the other side dishes, and my mother brings the pies. I don't bring anything, because I'm in New York and I haven't been home for Thanksgiving in 11 years :( Instead, I make the whole dinner for our family, which consists of myself, my husband, and my mother-in-law, and occasionally another guest or two.
Other Thanksgiving traditions include The Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade, which is the largest parade in America. Floats line up along 42nd Avenue in New York City, and there are large balloons featuring popular cartoon characters. It sometimes takes 30 or more people to control these balloons and steer them down the parade route. At the end of the parade is Santa in his sleigh, and he leads the parade spectators to the front door of Macy's department store to usher in the start of the Christmas season. Another major tradition is football, which is usually played on Sunday, but there are always two games on Thanksgiving. One game features the Dallas Cowboys (who are usually a good team) and the Detroit Lions (who haven't had a winning season in over two decades, I think). In recent years, Thanksgiving has turned into a shopping day as well, with some shops kicking off the Black Friday sales early, but more on Black Friday later.
Basically, Thanksgiving can be summed up in four "Fs": food, family, floats (as in parade floats), and football.
Now, if you'll excuse me, I have to go take some squash out of the oven...
Thursday, November 26, 2009
Saturday, November 14, 2009
Cultural Highlights: November: Election Day
Okay, let's get started.
There are three major American cultural events that I can think of that take place in November: Election Day, Thanksgiving, and Black Friday. I'll cover all three eventually. I'm going to start with Election Day.
As a democratic society, America has elections for just about every public office. Everyone knows about the presidential elections, but there are A LOT of other offices we vote for. Senators, National Representative, State Senators, State Representatives, Governors, Mayors, Town Board Members, County Clerk, Judges, District Attorneys, Dog Wardens, Highway Superintendants, etc. etc., on and on ad nauseum. It's extremely difficult to find factual information on candidates, especially on a local level. Political commercials are a constant fixture on TV for months before Election Day, and they portray only the (skewed) best information and the (skewed) worst information about a candidate. It can be very difficult to figure out what's honest and what's being twisted to a candidate's advantage.
Election Day is always the first Tuesday after the first Monday in November. As is typical for many American observances, there is a historical context for this date. It's after the harvest yet before the bad winter weather, so farmers could travel to polling places back in the day when your local polling place wasn't within a short distance. Also, the first day of the month, historically, has been an important day for conducting business and trade. In order to assure a good voter turnout, it was decided that Election Day should be on a day with minimal distractions from the necessary functions of daily life. Where you go to vote is based on where you live.
Any American citizen over the age of 18 and not a convicted felon can vote for any office that affects where they live. It is necessary to register with your local district before you vote. Registering to vote does hold some responsibility, because it opens you up to be called to serve on a jury. Once you register to vote, you are asked if you'd like to sign up with a political party. I think most Americans don't do this, but it has its advantages, which I'll get to in a minute. All American citizens are strongly encouraged to register to vote.
As you probably are already aware, there are two major political parties in the US, and candidates from these parties fill the vaaaaaast majority of elected offices. There are the Democrats, who are liberal, and the Republicans, who are conservative. There are also dozens of minor parties, like the Green Party, the Libertarians, and even the Communist party. Occasionally one of these candidates will achieve an office, but usually on a local level and not on the national stage. Candidates can also run independently of any party, but these candidates are often unsuccessful without the backing of party money and party members. As I said before, Americans can sign up to join a party when they register to vote. There's not an application process, and a party can't reject someone who wants to join. The major advantages to joining a party are: 1) a connection to like-minded people and funding if you decide to run for office someday and 2) the ability to vote in primary elections. Primary elections are the first round of the electoral process: all the Republicans run against each other to see who the Republican party wants their candidate to be. Democrats do the same. In some states, there are caucuses instead of primary elections. Caucuses are hard to explain, so look it up on Wikipedia if you want to know more.
Now, when it comes to actual voting, here's how it works. It's Election Day, and your local polling place is open from 6am to 9pm. You go to the polling place (you get a letter in the mail telling you where to go) and sign in. In many larger polling places at major elections, there are lines that can last for hours. Once you sign in, you are directed by an election official to the booth where you vote. There are many different types of ballots, but all of them essentially involve going into a closed-off area, marking the name of the person you want to vote for, turning in your ballot anonymously, and then leaving. We used a closed-ballot system, meaning no one sees your vote while it has been cast and all ballots are cast anonymously. Sometimes election officials will even not allow children to go in with their parents because of the anonymity of the voting process.
Are you confused enough yet? Well, it's about to get more confusing. American citizens don't actually vote for the president. You see, our founding fathers felt that the majority of white men (who, initially, were the only Americans allowed to vote) were too ignorant to actually do a good job at selecting a president. So they created something called the Electoral College. Members of the Electoral College vote for the president on behalf of the people they represent in their region. Average Joes and Janes cast their vote for their choice of candidate, and then the Electoral College representative votes for the president based on which candidate received the most votes in their district. This makes it possible for a presidential candidate to win the majority of "popular votes" (Average Joe and Jane) and yet still not win the election because of the way the Electoral College is set up. This has happened twice (I think) in US history, the most recent time being George W. Bush vs. Al Gore in 2000.
There are a lot of laws that govern the voting process. For instance, there is no campaigning allowed within 100 feet of a polling place. This allows for anonymous voting, because it used to be that people were intimidated to vote for candidates before they walked into the polling place, or even denied entry if they planned on voting for an opposing candidate. Also, employers have to allow their employees the chance to vote. They have to give at least 2 consecutive work-free hours to their employees during voting hours. When it comes to people who cannot go to a polling place to vote (such as people in nursing homes or hospitals, or people out of the country) they can cast absentee ballots and these have to be turned in well ahead of Election Day. These votes are typically counted later than Election Day votes, and rarely sway the result of an election.
Far too few Americans exercise their right to vote, especially in local elections, where voter turnout can be as low as in the 10-20% range. I promise my post on Thanksgiving and Black Friday won't be as long as this, but it's hard to talk about Election Day and not get too far into the whole political structure of the American Government. But like the old saying goes, don't discuss politics or religion with friends.
There are three major American cultural events that I can think of that take place in November: Election Day, Thanksgiving, and Black Friday. I'll cover all three eventually. I'm going to start with Election Day.
As a democratic society, America has elections for just about every public office. Everyone knows about the presidential elections, but there are A LOT of other offices we vote for. Senators, National Representative, State Senators, State Representatives, Governors, Mayors, Town Board Members, County Clerk, Judges, District Attorneys, Dog Wardens, Highway Superintendants, etc. etc., on and on ad nauseum. It's extremely difficult to find factual information on candidates, especially on a local level. Political commercials are a constant fixture on TV for months before Election Day, and they portray only the (skewed) best information and the (skewed) worst information about a candidate. It can be very difficult to figure out what's honest and what's being twisted to a candidate's advantage.
Election Day is always the first Tuesday after the first Monday in November. As is typical for many American observances, there is a historical context for this date. It's after the harvest yet before the bad winter weather, so farmers could travel to polling places back in the day when your local polling place wasn't within a short distance. Also, the first day of the month, historically, has been an important day for conducting business and trade. In order to assure a good voter turnout, it was decided that Election Day should be on a day with minimal distractions from the necessary functions of daily life. Where you go to vote is based on where you live.
Any American citizen over the age of 18 and not a convicted felon can vote for any office that affects where they live. It is necessary to register with your local district before you vote. Registering to vote does hold some responsibility, because it opens you up to be called to serve on a jury. Once you register to vote, you are asked if you'd like to sign up with a political party. I think most Americans don't do this, but it has its advantages, which I'll get to in a minute. All American citizens are strongly encouraged to register to vote.
As you probably are already aware, there are two major political parties in the US, and candidates from these parties fill the vaaaaaast majority of elected offices. There are the Democrats, who are liberal, and the Republicans, who are conservative. There are also dozens of minor parties, like the Green Party, the Libertarians, and even the Communist party. Occasionally one of these candidates will achieve an office, but usually on a local level and not on the national stage. Candidates can also run independently of any party, but these candidates are often unsuccessful without the backing of party money and party members. As I said before, Americans can sign up to join a party when they register to vote. There's not an application process, and a party can't reject someone who wants to join. The major advantages to joining a party are: 1) a connection to like-minded people and funding if you decide to run for office someday and 2) the ability to vote in primary elections. Primary elections are the first round of the electoral process: all the Republicans run against each other to see who the Republican party wants their candidate to be. Democrats do the same. In some states, there are caucuses instead of primary elections. Caucuses are hard to explain, so look it up on Wikipedia if you want to know more.
Now, when it comes to actual voting, here's how it works. It's Election Day, and your local polling place is open from 6am to 9pm. You go to the polling place (you get a letter in the mail telling you where to go) and sign in. In many larger polling places at major elections, there are lines that can last for hours. Once you sign in, you are directed by an election official to the booth where you vote. There are many different types of ballots, but all of them essentially involve going into a closed-off area, marking the name of the person you want to vote for, turning in your ballot anonymously, and then leaving. We used a closed-ballot system, meaning no one sees your vote while it has been cast and all ballots are cast anonymously. Sometimes election officials will even not allow children to go in with their parents because of the anonymity of the voting process.
Are you confused enough yet? Well, it's about to get more confusing. American citizens don't actually vote for the president. You see, our founding fathers felt that the majority of white men (who, initially, were the only Americans allowed to vote) were too ignorant to actually do a good job at selecting a president. So they created something called the Electoral College. Members of the Electoral College vote for the president on behalf of the people they represent in their region. Average Joes and Janes cast their vote for their choice of candidate, and then the Electoral College representative votes for the president based on which candidate received the most votes in their district. This makes it possible for a presidential candidate to win the majority of "popular votes" (Average Joe and Jane) and yet still not win the election because of the way the Electoral College is set up. This has happened twice (I think) in US history, the most recent time being George W. Bush vs. Al Gore in 2000.
There are a lot of laws that govern the voting process. For instance, there is no campaigning allowed within 100 feet of a polling place. This allows for anonymous voting, because it used to be that people were intimidated to vote for candidates before they walked into the polling place, or even denied entry if they planned on voting for an opposing candidate. Also, employers have to allow their employees the chance to vote. They have to give at least 2 consecutive work-free hours to their employees during voting hours. When it comes to people who cannot go to a polling place to vote (such as people in nursing homes or hospitals, or people out of the country) they can cast absentee ballots and these have to be turned in well ahead of Election Day. These votes are typically counted later than Election Day votes, and rarely sway the result of an election.
Far too few Americans exercise their right to vote, especially in local elections, where voter turnout can be as low as in the 10-20% range. I promise my post on Thanksgiving and Black Friday won't be as long as this, but it's hard to talk about Election Day and not get too far into the whole political structure of the American Government. But like the old saying goes, don't discuss politics or religion with friends.
Welcome to American Culture
Hi there everybody!
I'm starting this blog primarily for the benefit of my friends in England, especially those who will be visting the US. I recently spent a month in England as part of a Rotary Group Study Exchange Program, and it allowed me to get up-close-and-personal with culture in the Northeast of England. While our cultures have several things in common, there are some differences, both big and small. I've noticed a lot more of them since I returned to the States. I'll try to update this blog as I think of more to comment upon.
Please keep in mind that, while I'll try to remain as objective as I can, this is my take on American culture, and everyone views culture from a different angle.
I'm starting this blog primarily for the benefit of my friends in England, especially those who will be visting the US. I recently spent a month in England as part of a Rotary Group Study Exchange Program, and it allowed me to get up-close-and-personal with culture in the Northeast of England. While our cultures have several things in common, there are some differences, both big and small. I've noticed a lot more of them since I returned to the States. I'll try to update this blog as I think of more to comment upon.
Please keep in mind that, while I'll try to remain as objective as I can, this is my take on American culture, and everyone views culture from a different angle.
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