No Thanksgiving in the UK...

[KiltedKrew]

Growing up in Scotland, or the UK, we never had this holiday. We still don't.

Now that I've lived in the US for 12 years, I really love this warm, hearty and enjoyable holiday.
The only thing is, I can't get used to eating sweet potatoes, breaded stuffing, corn bread or pumpkin pie. (lol)

I don't think I make a very good dinner guest at Thanksgiving, so I do my utmost to get out of it as I don't want to embarrass myself, or the host/s. I really think food, all foods, are a culture thing.
Does anyone else, from other countries, who now live in the USA have this problem? (lol)

[Elf_Erv]

when i was a kid nothing was open on Thanksgiving, no gas stations, no restaurants, etc. These days almost everything is open as if it weren't a holiday. Surprisingly lots of cars can be seen at pizza houses and fast food joints, not everyone eats turkey and pumpkin pie on Thanksgiving

[ChristmasKatie]

I live in the UK, and i wish we had some sort of equivilant. Maybe not with pumpkin pie, but a time to be thankful to one another.

[MinnesotaMike]

when i was a kid nothing was open on Thanksgiving, no gas stations, no restaurants, etc. These days almost everything is open as if it weren't a holiday. Surprisingly lots of cars can be seen at pizza houses and fast food joints, not everyone eats turkey and pumpkin pie on Thanksgiving

Exactly!...I remember when everything was literally shut down for the day! It wasn't all that long ago. Heck, even gas stations that were open were few and far between. I also remember when stores used to open from noon to 5pm on Sundays. Now they keep virtually the same hours as a weekday. Funny how commerce drives our way of life.

[ornamentmaven]

Pumpkin pie is the best!

And yes - nothing used to be open on Thanksgiving Day- especially restaurants, because no one ate out that day. More restaurants were open on Christmas than Thanksgiving! I remember eating out on Christmas Day several times when I was a kid! But never on Thanksgiving!

[SilverBells]

Exactly!...I remember when everything was literally shut down for the day! It wasn't all that long ago. Heck, even gas stations that were open were few and far between. I also remember when stores used to open from noon to 5pm on Sundays. Now they keep virtually the same hours as a weekday. Funny how commerce drives our way of life.

It's still like that here in Greece. On Sundays and holidays almost everything is closed. Except restaurants, gas stations and maybe a grocery store.

[MinnesotaMike]

Nowadays...lots of families seem to like to go out for Thanksgiving dinner. Many restaurants advertise "Thanksgiving buffets".

[Fezziwig]

It's still like that here in Greece. On Sundays and holidays almost everything is closed. Except restaurants, gas stations and maybe a grocery store.

In some places they still have "Blue Laws" where stores and shops are closed on Sundays. I live in Passaic County NJ, we don't, but the neighboring County of Bergen does. It's actually a hassle I think, not being about to go to the store on Sunday is really a pain sometimes.

Personally, I think its a bit of a dated practice.

[Fezziwig]

Growing up in Scotland, or the UK, we never had this holiday. We still don't.

Now that I've lived in the US for 12 years, I really love this warm, hearty and enjoyable holiday.
The only thing is, I can't get used to eating sweet potatoes, breaded stuffing, corn bread or pumpkin pie. (lol)

I don't think I make a very good dinner guest at Thanksgiving, so I do my utmost to get out of it as I don't want to embarrass myself, or the host/s. I really think food, all foods, are a culture thing.
Does anyone else, from other countries, who now live in the USA have this problem? (lol)

I have come to find, beings a number of your current countrymen (us Americans) are immigrants such as yourself, that the Holiday is very accommodating. A good friend of mine is Chinese and his family on Thanksgiving make their stuffing out of rice and different herbs. Its different, but it's still Thanksgiving.

I'm Italian American and we start off our dinner ritually with Raviolis. Germans, Indians, or Greeks may start off their dinner a different way or in some cases eat completely different things but its all Thanksgiving.

Few, if any of us, are related to those purtians whom we have the Holiday in the spirit of. With each generation and culture that come to this country they all bring something else to the table (literally and figuratively)

This is America, none of us are really from here historically speaking (even the native Americans came from Asia.) Thanksgiving is what you want it to be.

If you were a guest at my house I would want you to feel welcome and eat whatever you liked. I invited you because I enjoy your company not because I wanted to feed you. So I don't think you should feel that you have to get out of it because you feel your a bad dinner guest. Maybe make a dish from Scotland or the UK and bring it along, I am sure someone will enjoy it and maybe they will add it to their own "Traditional Thanksgiving"

Just a thought.

[ornamentmaven]

Yes Fezziwig - it is a pain that Bergen County NJ still has blue laws in effect on Sundays! Sundays are a great day to shop! It's my neighboring county as well (only 5 minutes away), and there are so many nice places to shop there! Many drive up here to shop!