Thanksgiving Day provides us a great opportunity to express gratitude for everything we have in life. This is a national holiday on which people praise and thank God for blessings.
Christians also ask God to forgive them for their personal sins and protect the whole nation. It’s believed that everybody should reconcile with others on this day and apologize for the harm they might have caused to loved ones.
On Thanksgiving Day, it’s especially important to take actions that reflect the gratitude in heart. Apart from acknowledging God’s blessings, we can help others in different ways, like by serving the homeless or inviting someone for dinner. This could be an appropriate response to God’s kindness and a pleasing way of honoring Him for what He has done for us.
Learn more about Thanksgiving from free essay samples
Celebrating Thanksgiving Day has become a tradition in most families, so parents usually do their best to pass it to future generations. They believe that such holidays promote the right values and make their children more virtuous. School teachers also explain the importance of Thanksgiving day and try to support this custom.
They often ask students to make a project or write a paper about this holiday. Thus, you can learn a lot of interesting information on Thanksgiving from free essay examples on https://gradesfixer.com/free-essay-examples/thanksgiving/, for instance, about its history, religious meaning, and significance for society. You can also learn that this holiday exists in different countries all over the world. If you wish to know how other nations celebrate it, keep reading the article!
Thanksgiving celebrations around the world
The Netherlands
In fact, there is no historical connection between Dutch and American Thanksgiving Day. They say that the English pilgrims traveling to North America had a long stopover in Leiden, which was the second-biggest city in the Netherlands at that time. They attempted to maintain their religious beliefs and started the Thanksgiving tradition.
Until now, this holiday is important for the Dutch people. Some of them celebrate it at the Pieterskerk, a Gothic church where one of the Pilgrim leaders is buried. Generally, the celebration in the Netherlands is not so different from the US. Everybody views it as a great chance to gather with family and friends for a big meal. Classic dishes served on this day are turkey, of course, mashed potatoes, and a pumpkin pie.
Japan
Over 2,000 years ago when people in Japan first started cultivating rice, there was Autumn Harvest Festival called Niinamesai. After some time, it became more associated with celebrating the hard work done during the year. But the holiday was not established until 1948 when it was redesignated as Labor Thanksgiving Day. The name and the meaning of the holiday were changed in order to reflect some important alternations made in the Constitution of Japan.
So, unlike American Thanksgiving, this holiday is more specific in Japan. Instead of expressing gratitude for general things, like some life events, relationships, and so on, Japanese people thank for the job done by others. On Labor Thanksgiving Day or Kinro Kansha no Hi, everybody honors the hard work of laborers. So this national holiday doesn’t have any religious background, it’s all about being grateful to workers who bring value to society.
Canada
According to the Canadian Encyclopedia, Thanksgiving Day has been celebrated in this country every year since 1879. At the beginning of this tradition, people expressed their gratitude for abundant harvests. Hence, a horn filled with seasonal fruit and vegetables has become a symbol of this holiday. It’s also called cornucopia, which can be translated as “Horn of Plenty” from Latin.
Although Thanksgiving Day is an official holiday in Canada, it’s not legally acknowledged in Nova Scotia, New Brunswick, and Prince Edward Island, which means that employers don’t pay their employees for the day off. That’s why people often celebrate it the day before. Canadian Thanksgiving is not really about turkey, like in the US, but more about Jiggs’ dinner, which is a traditional meal that consists of salt beef, some vegetables, pease pudding, and some kind of dessert.
Germany
German Thanksgiving Day is called Erntedankfest and it’s usually celebrated on the first Sunday in October, as recommended by Catholic Church since 1972. Some aspects of the Thanksgiving celebration, like preparing the turkey and giving food to the needy, have taken root in Europe. However, unlike the USA, it’s not a family holiday but a religious one. Hence, it’s typically celebrated in the church.
Usually, the celebration begins with a sermon and choral singing, followed by a thanksgiving procession. It finishes with presenting a so-called “harvest crown” for the harvest queen. After that, people enjoy music, dancing, food, and in some regions, a lantern parade or even fireworks.
Author’s BIO
Michael Turner is an expert in academic writing and a college professor. He works at one of the leading essay services that help students keep up with the studies. Michael’s job is to assist young people in writing assignments and research papers, so they can achieve better learning outcomes.
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