Happy Thanksgiving!
It’s that time of the year in North America where everybody celebrates a tradition that originated with the early settlers giving thanks for a good harvest prior to the onset of the often very harsh winters. It is a tradition that almost exclusive to North America and its people, and in my opinion it is as big as Christmas holidays here.
The busiest traveling day of the year occurs on the day before with tens of millions of people trying to get home via road, rail and air. Families spend the Thursday together eating turkey and then a range of other foods including sweet potatoes, winter squash, bread rolls, giblet gravy, collard greens, green beans, pumpkin pie and pecan pie to name a few. The traditions vary across the country but you can be sure there will be a lot of food and plenty of napping after!
The tradition means that many businesses shut down including the stock market and so it has a global impact on business. The date is always the last Thursday in November and many people take it as a long weekend having the Friday off as well, which is what Ohio State does, so I will be enjoying the time off to get some more work done!
The other tradition that tends to go with the whole weekend is American football (according to my sports advisor), on the Thursday there is a traditionally a game involving the team from Detroit and recently college football games have become more common on the days around the holiday. The other really big benefit to the public is the Friday directly after the holiday is known as ‘black Friday’. The term is thought to have originated due to heavy traffic in Philadelphia on the day but lately it is known as such due to the fact that many retailers go into the ‘black’ on the year due to heavy shopping. The price on a range of products is dramatically cut and there is some very good deals to be had. Stores open at 5 am or even earlier and people will camp out to make sure they get a product they desire. I can say for sure I will be hunting for a bargain or two early this year also!!
For international students and any other domestic student staying around campus, don’t forget that OSU hosts a Thanksgiving dinner on Thursday 26th at the RPAC from 1 to 3 pm (check some pictures of previous thanksgiving dinner http://oia.osu.edu/thanksgiving-dinner.html )
That being said I would like to wish all students, faculty and staff in Fisher a happy and wholesome Thanksgiving with your families.
Here is a sample of some good food shared at the GPO Thanksgiving lunch, Thanks!!!