by Tamila Abenova

Thanksgiving Day is celebrated on the last Thursday of November in the United States. Ever since it began, this holiday has not been just another day off of work, but also a beloved day to gather and celebrate with friends and family. Furthermore, Thanksgiving Day officially opens the winter holiday season around the country.

On this day family members gather for a holiday feast. Each year, Americans eat the same meal that their ancestors did in 1621. One of the most important dishes on every table is a stuffed turkey. Other traditional dishes include cranberry sauce, sweet potatoes, and a large sweet pumpkin pie.

Every year, Macy’s (the largest department store in the U.S.) organizes the Thanksgiving Day parade in New York City that features enormous flying balloons depicting cartoon and TV show characters. Since 1947, there has also been a tradition of the sitting US President pardoning a turkey. The ceremony takes place at the White House where the President “saves” one of two turkeys from being eaten. One final characteristic of the Thanksgiving holiday is charity; where many citizens help feed the homeless, donate money, or utilize their time volunteering to help those in need.

Here, at New York English Academy, we look forward to celebrating the Thanksgiving holiday with our students. We want to personally thank all of you for being with us! So come, be merry, and enjoy our Thanksgiving celebration!

Thanksgiving Dinner: November 25 (Wednesday) @12 pm at NYEA.

Why not? Just kidding. Actually when I was a young boy my neighbors had a bunch of turkeys for a few years. During the first month the turkeys were small and pretty cute. After several months the turkeys grew up bigger and bigger. Also their behavior changed a lot, they start to act more aggressively and I would say they were rude. You couldn’t enter their territory anymore safely because they attacked you immediately. They had developed strategies how to peck our hands if we were offering food for them from our hands. Once happened an accident when my little brother went by himself to the turkeys’ cage to feed them. Unluckily, he offered seeds for the turkeys directly from his hand, so that the turkeys could peck seeds from his hand. The turkeys start to peck my little brother’s hand so strongly that his hand was bleeding when he came back from the turkey cage. After this accident all of the neighborhood children were asked to stay away from the turkeys. My neighbors apologized to my parents for what happened to my little brother. It was an accident which could happen to everyone because we didn’t know how dangerous it was to feed the turkeys by hand directly. In conclusion, turkeys don’t make such a great pet experience. I would rather just eat them.

Happy Thanksgiving day!