Thanksgiving
And some other cultural exchanges 🇺🇸 🇬🇧
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This week’s post is a little different and feels a bit more random but with American Thanksgiving tomorrow, it got me thinking about some of the customs and traditions that my husband and I share. I am British, so why do I celebrate this holiday? Read on…
I am married to an American. And even though we speak the same language and have similar-ish backgrounds in terms of our upbringing, and are both white, we often joke that there are large differences between us - culturally, that is.
Naturally, one of the first things that stands out would be our accents, and when we visit our families in our respective home countries, we both remark how our accents change and the cadence alters because we are ‘home’. Similarly, we also utilise a whole range of different slang words/phrases and idioms to express ourselves. In fact, discussing idioms nearly led to an argument a few years ago when we disagreed about a particular saying like when you want to share something that might be worrying you.
I said: It’s when you want to get something off your chest.
My husband replied: No, it’s like when you want to get something off your vest.
Having checked Cambridge Dictionary, I believe that I am in the right here.
Idioms aside, my husband and I largely enjoy sharing cultural nuggets, particularly things that one of us may not have come across growing up, or were aware of, but just didn’t access for various reasons.
American Thanksgiving is one of these cultural nuggets1.
Early into our relationship, I asked my then-boyfriend what Thanksgiving meant to him and his family. I recall that he shared details about its history while acknowledging the controversy of the holiday in different communities, but he also said that the holiday acted as an opportunity for loved ones to get together.
I confessed that my knowledge was limited to some history lessons at school when I was 14, where Thanksgiving was shoehorned into a larger unit of learning about the American West. And even here, I don’t remember much from those lessons, apart from how the pilgrims were effectively saved from starvation by the Native Americans. But after this, I couldn’t tell you much more about how this happened, where, which Native American tribes were involved…
Oh, and my other reference as a teenager came from Addams Family Values that was released a couple of years before those history lessons in 1993.
I find learning about the customs and traditions of other countries and cultures one of the most fascinating things about being human. I studied sociology at school, and taught the subject for a number of years alongside psychology in the classroom. At the beginning of the course for my new students, I would ask them all to share any particular customs/traditions that they had with their family and relatives.
So, in a similar vein, and with Thanksgiving tomorrow, and Christmas around the corner, I had a little think about some of the cultural exchanges of traditions/customs my husband and I have shared and compiled a short list.
🇬🇧 A selection of British cultural delights that I have introduced him to:
Pancake Day
Yorkshire puddings - I mean, all meals should have these, right?
Alan Partridge - unfortunately, probably the least accessible comedy character for my husband
Have I Got News for You
Pies of different varieties: mince pies, cottage pies, shepherd’s pies
There seems to be a running theme here. It does appear that I am attempting to export British-style comedy2 and mostly, dense, but delicious brown food.
🇺🇸 And now, a selection of cultural highlights that my husband has shared with me:
PB&Js - Peanut butter and jelly (jam) sandwiches. Not my favourite to be honest…
Tater tots - are these just hash browns, but smaller?
Independence Day (the day itself, not the film with Will Smith) - I was already well aware of this, but a lot of Americans really go crazy over this day. Brits don’t really do patriotism in quite the same way
More pies! Pumpkin pie and pecan pies - Thanksgiving favourites
Taylor Swift - again, I already knew of TS before meeting my husband, but he was the bigger fan and shared with me some of her earlier work (plus, he has seen her live in concert - jealous!)
Food is definitely the common factor across both lists! But then, I am a little hungry as I write this post.
As I am getting older, I have found that I want to learn more about other peoples’ traditions, hear their stories, and discover how these will have shaped their perspectives on the world. Cultural exchanges provide us with insight, and help to build relationships. American Thanksgiving may not be ‘my’ holiday culturally and historically, but it has allowed me to connect deeper with my husband, and with his family.
And now, I think it’s pie time 🥧
I’m interested to know about your customs and traditions, especially ones that may include food! Have you introduced a friend, a colleague, or a partner to something that you celebrate? I’d love to hear about it.
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Thank you again for taking the time to read it,
Sarah xx
More like a massive holiday, where many families travel to see family over a four-day period.
My list for classic British comedies could run into the double-digits!
Love this, Sarah! Happy Thanksgiving x