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Happy Thanksgiving!

Though there is absolutely no sign of the existence of Thanksgiving here in France...

Or in the UK, instead we give thanks for getting rid of those puritans. (joking, obviously).

I think we're all just jealous we don't have some extra holiday. There is Harvest Festival of course (September), that's more something the church does, and isn't a national holiday; it's more fondly remembered as a childhood memory where you'd hand out tins of food to old people (at least in the village I lived) then later, realise those old people were probably very rich.

Perhaps in the UK we could have a Roman Invasion Celebration, followed by a Norman one. You'd probably then have some break-off group of people who have DNA test to pove they're Celtic and original residence who'll get pissed off. Come to think of it, do Native Americans celebrate Thanksgiving?

Either way, have a nice time.

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macinnerd wrote:
Happy Thanksgiving!

Though there is absolutely no sign of the existence of Thanksgiving here in France...

We have "holidays" like Thanksgiving... maybe 7 a year that we get to take off work for. Every time I meet a European they're on "holiday" for a month.

The only people around here that I know that take off for a month are college students and hippies.

Count your blessings... be "thankful" for your holiday and shorter work week.

Oh, and like many Americans, I'm partly Indian (Native American, whatever), and my family celebrates Thanksgiving. According to legend Thanksgiving was an event based on friendship between the Indians and settlers, with the Native Americans saving the settlers from starving (though in reality, I'm sure the event was a little more one-sided than we're led to believe)

In any case, it seems to be a pretty benign holiday with good intentions, and other than complaints about largesse & gluttony, pretty well received by most.

It wasn't a complaint, I'm all for the scoffing! Although, I can't say I've met many people in the UK who take month holidays, or have short working weeks. Perhaps you mean those southern europeans having sleeps in the afternoon (another, I'm not serious before a bunch of crazed Spaniards come after me).

There was a Euro directive to cap the max average hrs to 48, but the UK opted out. (the US average is 46).

Apparently the Greeks work the longest in Europe, followed by the UK:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/europe/6122708.stm

Glad to hear those natives aren't left out.

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mahuti wrote:
We have "holidays" like Thanksgiving... maybe 7 a year that we get to take off work for. Every time I meet a European they're on "holiday" for a month.

The only people around here that I know that take off for a month are college students and hippies.

Count your blessings... be "thankful" for your holiday and shorter work week.

Oh, and like many Americans, I'm partly Indian (Native American, whatever), and my family celebrates Thanksgiving. According to legend Thanksgiving was an event based on friendship between the Indians and settlers, with the Native Americans saving the settlers from starving (though in reality, I'm sure the event was a little more one-sided than we're led to believe)

In any case, it seems to be a pretty benign holiday with good intentions, and other than complaints about largesse & gluttony, pretty well received by most.

I'm glad to hear it's not just us then.

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stuartea wrote:
It wasn't a complaint, I'm all for the scoffing! Although, I can't say I've met many people in the UK who take month holidays, or have short working weeks. Perhaps you mean those southern europeans having sleeps in the afternoon (another, I'm not serious before a bunch of crazed Spaniards come after me).