Happy (late) Thanksgiving!

I can't believe I am that late, but I had so much to do with university stuff that I just did not find the time to post about Thanksgiving and since I was able to celebrate it last year, I definitely want to tell you about this special celebration! Of course it's not that special here in Austria, but as I posted about my year abroad before, I certainly also experienced this US holiday. However, last year's Thanksgiving was very special, since it fell to the same date as Hanukkah, the Jewish Christmas or Festival of Lights. Since my host dad's family is Jewish, not only did we celebrate Thanksgiving, but also the Hanukkah.

First, a little history for those of you who don't know that much about Thanksgiving. It started in 1621 when the Pilgrims first came to America and instead of fighting them, the Native Americans warmly welcomed them with an enormous feast. The food contained wild fowl, sea food, vegetables, herbs etc. That's definitely not the same as today. These days Americans serve a huge turkey, mashed potatoes, cranberry sauce, stuffing, a variety of salads and, most importantly, a huge amount of pies. For example, last year we had pumpkin pie, blueberry pie, pecan pie, apple pie, peach pie, strawberry cheesecake and also macarons. Incredible, right? I absolutely fell in love with this holiday. Historically, it was also very special for me to celebrate it in Massachusetts, since the Pilgrims first arrived in Plymouth, Massachusetts, and so I got to spend my first Thanksgiving, where the first Thanksgiving ever was also celebrated! What's also very important to mention is the peace and the happiness on that day. Although, it was very hectic at my host parents' house, since they first hosted the party and they didn't quite know how to prepare etc., you could still feel how peaceful everyone was. After all we expected 25 people to come!

As I mentioned before, not only did we celebrate Thanksgiving, but also Hanukkah. Hanukkah is referred to as the Festival of Lights and, so to say, the Jewish Christmas. On the first night you light up the first candle on your menorah, which contains of nine candles and each day for the next eight days you light up one more. Each day the kids get a little present, in preparation for the last day, when they get the big one.

I hope you liked my post about my Thanksgiving and Hanukkah ;-) 

Here are some pictures from last year: