有没有关于感恩节的介绍 (英文)

有没有关于感恩节的介绍 (英文)
有没有关于感恩节的介绍 (英文)

有没有关于感恩节的介绍 (英文)
Thanksgiving, or Thanksgiving Day, is an annual one-day holiday to give thanks for the things one has at the end of the harvest season. In the United States, Thanksgiving is celebrated on the fourth Thursday of November. In Canada, Thanksgiving is celebrated on the second Monday in October.
[edit] Traditional celebration
In the United States, certain kinds of food are traditionally served at Thanksgiving meals. First and foremost, turkey is usually the featured item on any Thanksgiving feast table (so much so that Thanksgiving is sometimes referred to as "Turkey Day"). Stuffing, mashed potatoes with gravy, sweet potatoes, cranberry sauce, corn, other fall vegetables, yams and pumpkin pie are commonly associated with Thanksgiving dinner. All of these primary dishes are actually native to the Americas and were introduced as a new food source to the Europeans when they arrived.
History of Thanksgiving in the United States
[edit] The Virginia colony
A collective prayer of thanksgiving was held in the Virginia Colony on December 4, 1619 near the current site of Berkeley Plantation, where celebrations are still held each year in November.[1]
[edit] Pilgrims
The Pilgrims were particularly thankful for Squanto, the Native American who taught them how to catch eel, grow corn and who served as an interpreter for them (Squanto had learned English as a slave in Europe). Without Squanto's help the Pilgrims might not have survived in the new world. The explorers who later came to be called the "Pilgrims" set apart a day to celebrate at Plymouth immediately after their first harvest, in 1621. At the time, this was not regarded as a Thanksgiving observance; harvest festivals were existing parts of English and Wampanoag tradition alike.
for more information:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thanksgiving

People gather around a table with family and friends to share a holiday feast. They give thanks for the blessings of the past year. For Americans and Canadians alike, these activities are an important...

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People gather around a table with family and friends to share a holiday feast. They give thanks for the blessings of the past year. For Americans and Canadians alike, these activities are an important part of Thanksgiving Day celebrations.
As we celebrate Thanksgiving, we also pay tribute to the Pilgrims and Native Americans who shared the first Thanksgiving feast nearly 400 years ago.
WHEN IS THANKSGIVING?
People in the United States celebrate Thanksgiving Day on the fourth Thursday in November. In Canada, Thanksgiving is celebrated on the second Monday in October.
WHERE DOES THANKSGIVING COME FROM?
Since ancient times, people have celebrated the autumn harvest. They marked the plentiful harvest with feasts, dances, and prayers of thanks. If the harvest was disappointing, the celebrations might be cancelled.
The English Puritans, who settled in America in the early 1600s, also shaped Thanksgiving celebrations. Puritan communities were very religious. From time to time, they devoted special days to give thanks in prayer.
THE FIRST THANKSGIVING IN AMERICA
In 1620, the Pilgrims founded the Plymouth Colony (in Massachusetts). The Pilgrims, a group of English Puritans, faced a difficult first winter. Many died of starvation. The following spring, Native Americans taught the Pilgrims how to raise corn and harvest local seafood. In the fall of 1621, the Pilgrims harvested their first crops.
The Pilgrims decided to celebrate the harvest and give thanks to God with a feast. They invited Wampanoag chief Massasoit and about 90 of his men to attend. The Native Americans brought five deer to the feast.
The feasting lasted three days. Pilgrims and Native Americans dined on roasted venison (deer meat), wild turkeys, geese, ducks, lobsters, clams, and eels. They ate boiled pumpkin, cornbread, wild plums, carrots, and turnips.
TRADITIONAL THANKSGIVING FOODS
Traditional Thanksgiving foods include turkey with bread stuffing, mashed potatoes, sweet potatoes, and cranberry sauce. Pumpkin pie is a classic dessert. Most of these basic foods are native to North America. They help Americans recall the simple way of life of the Pilgrims.
But these traditional dishes are not the only foods of modern Thanksgiving celebrations. As people have immigrated to America from other lands, they have added their own traditions. For example, many Italian American Thanksgiving meals include Italian dishes, such as pasta.
Halloween
October 31st (western countries)
Halloween is one of the oldest holidays with origins going back
thousands of years. The holiday has had many influences from many
cultures over the centuries. From the Roman's Pomona Day, to the
Celtic festival of Samhain, to the Christian holidays of All Saints
and All Souls Days.
Hundreds of years ago in what is now Great Britain and Northern
France, lived the Celts (凯尔特人), who worshipped (崇拜) nature and had
many gods, with the sun god as their favorite. They celebrated their
New Year on November 1st which was made every year with a festival
and marked the end of the "season of the sun" and the beginning of
"the season of darkness and cold."
On October 31st after the crops were all harvested and stored for
the long winter the cooking fires in the homes would be extinguished
(消失). The Druids, the Celtic priests, would meet in the hilltop in
the dark oak forest (oak trees were considered sacred). They would
light new fires and offer sacrifices of crops and animals. As they
danced around the fires, the season of the sun passed and the season
of darkness would begin.
When the morning arrived the Druids would give an ember from their
fires to each family who would then take them home to start new
cooking fires. These fires would keep the homes warm and free from
evil spirits.
The November 1st festival was called Samhain (pronounced "sow-en").
The festival would last for 3 days. Many people would parade in
costumes made from the skins and heads of their animals. This
festival would become the first Halloween.
The Celtics would carry a lantern (灯笼) when they walked on the eve
of October 31. These lanterns were carved out of big turnips (大头菜)
and the lights were believed to keep the evil spirits away. Children
would carve faces in the turnips. These carved turnips were called
"jack-o-lanterns.
It is said that the "jack-o-lantern" got its name from a stingy
(吝啬的) and mean old man, named Jack, who when he died was too mean to
get into heaven. When Jack went to hell he was meet by the Devil who
gave him a piece of burning coal and sent him away. Jack placed the
burning coal in a turnip to use as a lantern to light his way. The
legends claim that Jack is still walking with the lantern looking
for a place to stay.
When the early settlers came to America they found the big round
orange pumpkin. Being larger and much more colorful than turnips,
the pumpkin made great "jack-o-lanterns". Eventually the pumpkin
would replace the turnip. Eventually the Pumpkin would become the
most widely recognized symbol（象征）of the Halloween holiday.
The history of "Trick'O'Treating" can be traced back (追溯) to the
early celebrations of All Soul's Day in Britain. The poor would go
begging and the housewives would give them special treats called
"soulcakes". This was called "going a-souling", and the "soulers"
would promise to say a prayer for the dead.
Over time the custom changed and the town's children became the
beggars. As they went from house to house they would be given
apples, buns (圆形的小甜面包), and money. During the Pioneer days of the
American West, the housewives would give the children candy to keep
from being tricked. The children would shout "Trick or Treat!".

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