Сегодня — Понедельник, Октябрь 12, 2009 — is the Thanksgiving holiday в Канаде.

Canadians celebrate the Thanksgiving holiday roughly six weeks earlier than Americans do. И U.S. эмигранты всегда спрашивают, “Why?"

Here’s an excerpt from my book, Проживающих за рубежом в Канаде, об этом почему канадский День благодарения является в октябре:

Ð’ то время как 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, в 1957, Parliament permanently declared that Thanksgiving would be celebrated on the second Monday of October.

Но почему октября? Историки не согласны, хотя многие говорят, что это потому, что October is harvest time in much of Canada. К концу ноября, 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.

Канадский Living журнал highlights some of the subtle differences between Thanksgiving dinners in Canada and the U.S here.

Днем Турция!

Фото Shoshanah (Flickr)