The first Thanksgiving of my life

If there is a moment in my life that gives me a chance to look back and appreciate what I am having, that will be Thanksgiving.

Thursday, 22 November 2018,

Theo was waiting for me in his car. And I wasn’t his only passenger. That day, he also had to pick up Ben, Vilma, and Laura. We were having a party – a Thanksgiving party.

An hour later, we came to Johannes house. He and his sweetheart Suzanne were the host. We together started to “prepare” for the party, which equals to putting fruits on sticks and so on. The main dish – a big turkey – was almost ready, and other dishes were brought by guests. So technically there wasn’t much to do.

Later, other guests arrived. I recognized all of them: Thinh-Amy, Grace-Joona, Marko-Meichung, all of whom are my good friends from the Student evening – a fortnightly event for students.

Out of the window, the first snow of Lappeenranta was still falling. Things were covered in the permanent darkness and minus-ish temperature.

But not in our dining room.

Thinh and Johannes were standing in front of their audiences. They were the initiators of this event. “Since we are from the US” – Johannes started – “we celebrate Thanksgiving every year, cherishing the good things it offers. Today, we invited our best friends, our family, to our house, so we can sit together, have a bonding dinner together, and cherish the bless from our lives together”.

So Thanksgiving is not a Christian culture, but a US culture. It was formed by the British-originated, who found the happiest moments of their lives by living in the States. They had everything they had ever wanted in their lives: Prospered harvests, peaceful climates, and harmonized families. So they celebrated the Thanksgiving feast on the fourth Thursday of November every year to cherish the blesses that they received in life.

When being asked what I was appreciating in life, the image of a cold, dark night outside struck my mind again. Well, eventually, I could have been at home, played some video games, and been to sleep with boredom, just like many first-year students who barely made any friends. I could have watched the night scrawling to my place at 2pm and did nothing to stop it.

It wasn’t until I came to the party did I realize how happy I was, being surrounded by new, kind friends, who were willing to accept me. Besides myself, my family, my loved ones, they are now one of my sources of happiness. And that’s why I feel blessed, this year in Finland.

Well, I don’t say that I am a bad cook – I cook decently, actually. But that Thanksgiving was one of the best dinners I have ever had, since I started to live in Finland. Having delicious salad, stuffed, turkey, chicken, and all kinds of drinks – this memory is really triggering somehow 🙂

In short, I’d had my first Thanksgiving, and it was exactly what it meant to be – good food, great atmosphere, and meaningful moments in life.

Khanh Tr.