Thanksgiving

[jiang_14]

Dear teachers,

Do people in English speaking countried celebrate Thanksgiving Day on Nov. 27 each year?

Looking forward to hearing from you.

Thank you in advance.

Jiang

 

[MikeNewYork]

No. This is US Thanksgiving. It is celebrated on the 4th Thursday in November, not always the 27th. Canadian Thanksgiving is earlier. I don't know if there is a British or Australian Thanksgiving.

 

[jiang_14]

Dear Mike,

"Thank" and "Like" don't work so I　post quick reply to express my thanks to you. And have a nice weekend.

Jiang

 

[emsr2d2]

There is no Thanksgiving celebration in the UK.

 

[Rover_KE]

It's probably only a matter of time. Last year there was no Black Friday here, now it's all over the UK.

 

[Raymott]

No Thanksgiving in Australia. For one thing, the harvest is at the other end of the year. Secondly, there is no push for two celebrations within two months where the whole family has to get together (this happens at Christmas here). Thirdly, most Australians are secular - though I realise that modern Thanksgiving celebrations are largely divorced from their religious origins. Fourthly, I don't think there's a lot of money in it, is there? So, there's no incentive for anyone to import it like there was for Mother's Day, Father's Day and Black Friday (which I only just learnt about).

 

[Tdol]

There is no Thanksgiving celebration in the UK.

I suppose the nearest thing would be Harvest Festival, though it's not a holiday or even talked about outside churches. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Harvest_festival

 

[Roman55]

...and Black Friday (which I only just learnt about).

I am not a teacher.

I had never heard of Black Friday either before reading this thread, but no more than five minutes later I received some junk mail full of special Black Friday offers from French retailers.

It is now Sunday and I have just seen a report on the TV news all about a large French hypermarché chain and how successful their Black Friday campaign is. It lasts the whole weekend, of course. Vive la France!

 

[emsr2d2]

Black Friday seems to have been adopted by a lot of countries and in many of them it lasts all weekend, through to Cyber Monday which was meant to be the online version of Black Friday. As I understand it, Black Friday was supposed to be just physical retail stores and Cyber Monday was the online version, with sales at full price during the Saturday and Sunday in between. However, as with most things, it has spiralled out of control and is now a four-day consumer-fest, both online and offline.

 

[MikeNewYork]

It is good for both retailers and consumers. This weekend, one could find big screen quality televisions for under $300.

 

[emsr2d2]

In the UK, there were multiple arrests, shops had to close their doors after riots and hordes of people could be seen kicking and punching each other over a cheap brand TV that had maybe £20 knocked off. It was genuinely obscene.

It seems unfortunate that it happens directly after Thanksgiving, a day where people in certain parts of the world give thanks for everything they already have.

Here in the UK, the day after Black Friday was deemed "Buy Nothing Day" and people were encouraged to spend absolutely nothing for 24 hours, neither online nor in physical stores.

 

[MikeNewYork]

This is one reason I prefer animals to people.

 

[Rover_KE]

But animals can be beastly to one another.

 

[MikeNewYork]

Usually only out of need or defense. Not about televisions.