DRAFT: This module has unpublished changes.

To the Nicol clan,

 

It's Thanksgiving morning here in Korea, for me at least. Koreans don't celebrate Thanksgiving, so I'm at work. Moreover, there are no classes today because all the students are taking exams, so I have the double honor of working on Thanksgiving day and twiddling my thumbs.

 

A few weeks ago, I taught a lesson about Thanksgiving to the 5th graders. Most of them had at least heard of the holiday, probably from previous Native English Teachers. I quickly explained the traditional story about the pilgrims and the Indians, but I was a lot more excited to explain what a Thanksgiving celebration looks like in our family. I told mom to send me a few pictures from past Turkey Bowls, and I created a brief PowerPoint. The students were way more interested in this stuff. I showed them a picture of us playing football together in the front lawn. I showed them the spread of food and asked them to point out the mashed potatoes, the green beans, etc. I told them we like to play games after we eat, that we're a card playing family, and that everybody watches football. Lastly, I told them turkey makes you sleepy, and that sometimes we take naps in the afternoon. 

 

Even more impressed was my coteacher, Hyunji. Before the lesson, I narrated what was happening in the pictures. She spotted that nearly everybody was wearing red and she asked "why is everyone wearing costumes?" I explained that we watch Ohio State play Michigan, and that our team's colors are scarlet and gray. Still confused, she asked "but who arranges this?" I assured her that everyone wears the colors of their own will.

 

What really hit home, though, was when we were looking at the pictures of us playing our annual Turkey Bowl football game. She told me this:

 

"I think you know how to enjoy life more. When we have family gatherings, we just talk about small things."

 

I admit I was at a loss for words at that moment. Was this some cultural difference? Could Americans have better family dynamics than Koreans? That may be. I think it points to something else, though. I assured her that my family is quite unique that we are so large, yet so close. I didn't want her to assume that all families have the luxury of gathering every Thanksgiving to play a game, eat a giant lunch, and watch a football game together. In that moment I was reminded how special our family is, and how much I appreciate the effort we all make to stay close. If a foreign friend came to America and asked to go to one event that represented me, my culture, and my home, I think I would take that friend to Thanksgiving at the Picklesimers'.

 

So what I'm trying to say, if I'm saying anything at all, is Happy Thanksgiving from the other side of the world!

 

Love,

Matthew

DRAFT: This module has unpublished changes.