Ngayon — Lunes, Oktubre 12, 2009 — is the Thanksgiving holiday sa Canada.

Canadians ipagdiwang ang Thanksgiving holiday halos anim na linggo mas maaga kaysa sa Amerikano gawin. At U.S. expat laging magtanong, “Why?"

Here’s an excerpt from my book, Buhay sa ibang bansa sa Canada, tungkol sa bakit Canadian Thanksgiving sa Oktubre:

Habang Canada doesn’t share the pilgrim legends that infuse U.S. Thanksgiving traditions, the country does have a history of thanksgiving feasts….

The Canadian government first proclaimed an official holiday for “the blessings of an abundant harvest” in November 1879. For the next 40-some years, Canada celebrated Thanksgiving on varying dates in either October or November….Finally, sa 1957, Parliament permanently declared that Thanksgiving would be celebrated on the second Monday of October.

Ngunit bakit Oktubre? Historians ay hindi sumasang-ayon, bagaman maraming sinasabi ito ay dahil October is harvest time in much of Canada. Sa pamamagitan ng late Nobyembre, wide swaths of the country are already covered in snow.

Most Americans will find Canada’s Thanksgiving foods familiar. Canadians typically load up their holiday table with turkey, stuffing, mashed or sweet potatoes, cranberry sauce, at least of couple of other vegetables, and some sort of pie.

Canadian Buhay tindahan highlights some of the subtle differences between Thanksgiving dinners in Canada and the U.S here.

Happy Turkey Day!

Larawan ni Shoshanah (Flickr)