Thanks giving
around the World
Festivals are not just the
means of entertainment or rejoice. They also reflect our heritage, culture and
traditions. Thanksgiving is celebrated around the world to extend thanks for
the harvest, enjoying bountiful food, and spending time with family and
friends. Even though Thanksgiving seems to be uniquely American, the tradition
is followed in different countries in various forms.
Thanksgiving, USA
Celebrated on the fourth
Thursday of November, Thanksgiving in the USA is a national holiday that
commemorates the feast the Pilgrims held after the first harvest in 1621. The
first celebration was attended by 90 Native Americans and 53 pilgrims.
Thanksgiving has been celebrated intermittently ever since.
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Parades are a big part of
the celebrations too. They range from small town affairs featuring the local
marching band to Macy's Thanksgiving parade through the streets of New York.
Billed as the world's largest parade, it features parade floats and huge
balloons, usually based on cartoon characters, current Broadway shows and other
topical themes.
Chuseok, South Korea
Chuseok, also called
Hangnail, is a Korean festive holiday celebrated on the 15th day of August,
according to the lunar calendar. The festival is celebrated to commemorate the
fall harvest and to honour one's ancestors. Similar to Thanksgiving Day in the
USA, the Harvest Moon Festival, as it is also known, is one of the most popular
holidays in Korea. Traditionally, Koreans return to their ancestral hometowns
to celebrate with their families.
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The festival day begins with
a ceremony in which food and wine are offered to ancestors. This is followed by
a meal that typically consists of fish and newly harvested vegetables and
grains. The food most associated with the holiday is songpyon, a
crescent-shaped rice cake that is cooked on a bed of pine needles. Later in the
day, celebrants visit the graves of relatives, where more ceremonies are
performed. Chuseok is also marked by gift giving and athletic events, including
tug-of- war competitions, archery contests, and sirrum, Korean wrestling
matches. Other activities include dancing and music playing. On this day, many
Koreans wear hanbok, the traditional clothing.
Dia de Acao de Gracas,
Brazil
In Brazil, Thanksgiving is
a relatively new festival - but it's celebrated with great gusto. It is said
that when the former Brazilian President, Gaspar Dutra visited the USA, he was
fascinated with the holiday and established the festival in his home country in
1949.
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Dia de Acao de Gracas
begins with the mass to offer thanks for an abundant harvest - then there is a
vibrant carnival and revellers head to the beach, Peru. Roasted turkey is still
the centrepiece of the Brazilian Thanksgiving feast, but there are a few exotic
twists. Cranberries do not grow in Brazil, so a sauce made of Jaboticaba, known
as the 'Brazilian grape', is whipped up to spread on the bird.
Thanksgiving, Liberia
Liberian Thanksgiving is a vibrant and spicy
affair. Founded in the 19th century by liberated American slaves, the festival
gives thanks for freedom. Liberians celebrate the good things in life, while
also marking their troubled past.
After a church service,
families gather for a spread of roasted chicken, traditional green bean
casserole and mashed cassava - all liberally doused with spices, of course. The
Thanksgiving feast is topped off with an evening of dancing, singing and
celebration.
Crop Over, Barbados
The celebration of Crop
Over is Barbados's biggest party. The festival spreads over a length of 12
weeks, from May until August, when it culminates in the massive finale: the
Grand Kadooment.
Originally a celebration of the sugar cane
harvest, Crop Over has been celebrated since the 1780s when Barbados was the
world's largest produce of the sweet-stuff. Carnivals pervade the lengthy
celebrations, and calypso bands and dancers compete in ever grander and more
flamboyant displays.
Homowo, Ghana
The Homowo festival, meaning to jeer or hoot
at hunger in Ghana historically celebrates the ending of a long famine suffered
by the Ghanaians. What could be better to celebrate the end of shortage than a
feast? Palm nut soup with fish is served alongside traditional Kpokoi, a kind
of grits made from unleavened corn dough and palm oil.
Starting in May with the sowing of millet,
the festival takes place through August and September after a ban on drumming
and singing that is meant to encourage proper care of the crops. The festival
culminates in a night of singing and dancing and frantic beating of drums in
loud defiance of hunger and famine.
Mehregan, Iran
A festival that dates back at least to the
4th century BC, Mehregan in Iran is held on the 196th day of the Iranian year.
The festival celebrates a successful harvest and the goddess Mehr.
The celebration calls for new clothes,
community blessings and a feast on a table decorated with marjoram. The spread
includes sherbert drinks and lavish dinners; in some villages, a sheep is
sacrificed and slow- roasted throughout the day.
Revellers rub kohl around their eyes as a
good omen, and throw handfuls of marjoram, lotus and sugar plum seeds over each
other.
A. The meanings of some of the words from the
text are given below. Find the words and write against the correct meanings.
a. in a way occurring at irregular intervals;
not continuous or steady. =
Intermittently
b. to remind people of an important event or
person from the past. =
Commemorate
c. in a way that shows the usual qualities or
features of a particular type of person or thing.
= Typically
d. a curved shape that is wide in the middle
and pointed at each end. =
Crescent-shaped
e. full of life and energy. = Vibrant
f. a person who is having fun in a noisy way,
usually with a group of other people. =
Revellers
g. from or in another country; seeming
exciting and unusual. =
Exotic
h. to spread through and be easy to notice. = Pervade
i. brightly coloured and likely to attract
attention. = Flamboyant
j. done quickly and with a lot of activity, but
not very well organized. =
Frantic
B. The following events represent different
activities observed during Thanksgiving around the world. Study them carefully
and write the names of countries where they are celebrated.
a. Families gather for a feast in the evening
accompanied by dancing and singing. = Liberia
b. People wear new clothes and get community
blessings. = Iran
c. Palm nut soup, fish and traditional Kpokoi
are served. = Ghana
d. People return to their hometowns to
celebrate the festival. = South Korea
e. Celebrants go to the beach in a noisy way. = Brazil
f. Parades are taken out in the streets.=
USA
g. Food and wine are offered to the
forefathers. = South Korea
C. Answer the following questions.
a. What is the main feature of American
Thanksgiving?
- Thanksgiving dinner with family.
b. What do parades include in Thanksgiving in America?
- Parade includes floats and huge balloons
based on various themes.
c. When and why is Chuseok celebrated in Korea?
- Chuseok is celebrated on the 15th day of
August (according to the lunar calendar) to commemorate the fall harvest and
honor one's ancestors.
d. How did Thanksgiving begin in Brazil?
- It began when the former Brazilian
President, Gaspar Dutra, visited the USA and was inspired by the holiday. He
established Thanksgiving in Brazil in 1949.
e. Who started Thanksgiving
in Liberia?
- Thanksgiving in Liberia was started by
liberated American slaves in the 19th century.
f. Why was it started? What
is Thanksgiving celebrated in Barbados for?
- Thanksgiving in Barbados, known as Crop
Over, was originally a celebration of the sugar cane harvest when Barbados was
the world's largest producer of sugar.
g. What is Homowo marked in
Ghana?
- Homowo in Ghana marks the celebration of
the end of a long famine and is a feast to jeer at hunger.
Grammar II
A. Rewrite the following sentences choosing
the correct alternative from brackets.
a. Sujita asked her mother.......(when
her father would come home, when will her father come home, when might
her father come home).
b. She replied that she had never had caviar when I said to her, " ....caviar?" (Have you ever had, Will you have, Would you have)
c. The salesperson said to him, "What...........for you?" (I can do, can I do, I could do)
d. The tourist inquired from me........to Banepa. (whether I belonged, whether I would belong, whether I am belonging)
e. The little girl asked us what time.....to come back. (were we supposed, we were supposed, we had been supposed)
f. The head teacher asked her ........ the exam form the week before. (whether she had filled out, whether she fills out, whether had she filled out)
g. Renuka asked me.........her. (if I have called, if I had called, if had I called)