{"id":9615,"date":"2022-11-23T09:00:00","date_gmt":"2022-11-23T01:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/jrmz2.org\/?p=9615"},"modified":"2022-11-24T02:47:08","modified_gmt":"2022-11-23T18:47:08","slug":"thanksgiving-in-the-us","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/jrmz2.org\/?p=9615","title":{"rendered":"Thanksgiving in the US"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

By Nancy<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Sarah: All right class, today I invited my friend Michael to talk to us about the ABC\u2019s of Thanksgiving in the US. Our first question is: When is Thanksgiving?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Michael: Thanks Sarah for inviting me. The date of Thanksgiving changes every year. However, it is always on a Thursday. Specifically, it is always on the fourth Thursday of November, so this year it is on Thursday November 24th.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Sarah: Right on! That\u2019s this coming Thursday. Our next question is: What is Thanksgiving all about?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Michael: The short answer is that Thanksgiving is a holiday that began\u00a0in 1621. In that year, a group of people from England who\u00a0had traveled to\u00a0America were having a very difficult time getting accustomed to their new country. There was a group of Native Americans who helped the English people plant food and survive the difficult winter, so they decided to have a large dinner\u00a0to give thanks to their Native American friends, and to celebrate that they were still alive.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Sarah: Ah thanks for the historic background of Thanksgiving. What about now?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Michael: I think that the main reason that people still celebrate this holiday today is because it is a heartwarming time when you can get together with your friends or family to have fun and eat a delicious meal. Plus it is a great excuse for a party!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Sarah: Cool! OK next question: Who Celebrates Thanksgiving?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Michael: Most people in the United States celebrate Thanksgiving! Thanksgiving is generally considered to be\u00a0secular,\u00a0which means that it is not associated with any specific religion or church. Many people do say prayers at Thanksgiving dinner, of course, but anyone can participate in Thanksgiving. Finally, there is also a holiday called Thanksgiving in Canada, but it is celebrated in October and its history is completely different from the American celebration of Thanksgiving.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Sarah: Our final question: What is a typical Thanksgiving dinner like?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Michael: A traditional Thanksgiving dinner consists of roast turkey, turkey stuffing with onions and celery, mashed potatoes, gravy, green beans, corn, dinner rolls, cranberry sauce and pumpkin pie.<\/p>\n\n\n\n