Thanksgiving 2005 - The American Way
A Day to Remember
By Julia Koh
November 24th, 2005, the fourth Thursday of November, was the day that Americans all over the world knew and celebrated as Thanksgiving. It is traditionally celebrated with a large shared among friends and family. It is an important family gathering, and people often travel long distances to be with relatives and loved ones for the celebration. Thanksgiving often signifies a "four-day weekend" in the United States, in which Americans are given the relevant Thursday and Friday off.
The above was about all that we knew of arguably the most important holiday in the United States, yes, surpassing even Christmas, because every American, regardless of religion, celebrates it, unlike the latter. Having lived in Philadelphia for about four months under the auspices of the NUS Overseas College in Bio Valley, NCBV for short, we had settled into a comfortable routine of working on weekdays, going for classes in between work, alternating between studying and exploring Philadelphia’s delights at nights, and traveling on weekends.
However, as with most aliens in a foreign land, despite all our knowledge of American ways and pop culture due to its status as the centre of the developed world, we still had limited insight into what it was really like being an American, having had little or no real experience actually living out their lifestyle. We may work with them and go to classes with them, but the relationships were ones formed on the institutional level, be it at the company or at Penn, and even though we may get along well with our American colleagues and schoolmates, it is hard to not bring up the topic of either work or schoolwork whilst conversing with them, because they form the very basis of our relationship. Inevitably, we do not get to talk very much about their lives and thus, we end up only with a vague knowledge of what it is like to be an American living the American way of life.
All that changed when eight of us went to the Kolens’ to celebrate Thanksgiving with them. They are a family of four, consisting of Bill, Jill, Billy and Arielle Kolen. Some of my fellow NCBV friends had a chance encounter with Bill and Jill on a hay ride through a corn maze during the Halloween weekend, and had struck up a good conversation with them during the ride. Afterwards, they had kindly extended an invitation to them, and a few of their friends, to come up to their house in West Grove to celebrate Thanksgiving with their family.
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| The Kolan family: (Left to Right) Arielle, Jill, Bill, Billy |
And so, as it got closer to Thanksgiving, we excitedly began to make preparations for the big day. We decided to prepare curry chicken, boiled tea-leaf eggs and baked cookies for the Kolens, as it would not have been nice to turn up empty-handed, in addition to the fact that we knew that they had a liking for spicy food, which explains the curry chicken.
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| 12 pound turkey - Fresh from the Oven! With chefs Bill and Arielle. |
Even though the highlight of Thanksgiving was the Dinner, Jill had suggested that we get to their place around 12 noon. And so we set off at 10am, visiting and picking everyone up from their different apartment complexes, which reminded me of Chinese New Year visitations, but instead of Mandarin oranges in our hands, we had pots and trays of food in their place. After a one and a half hour ride away from Philadelphia and into the suburbs, we finally got to their place. At first, we were not sure that it was the correct address, because we could not see any sign, and the house was some distance away from the parking space. But because we were in awe of the large expanse of land and beautiful landscape, we got out of the SUV anyway and started up towards the house. To our surprise, we were given a warm welcome by a huge black German shepherd, Max, who leaped around and licked us excitedly. Then Bill and Billy came out to receive us and helped us into the house.
For most of us, it was the first time that we had seen a real fireplace in operation, and boy were we thankful for it, for there was a wind chill that day. Nonetheless, we still went out into the open to practice our shooting. That’s right, a real-life civilian shooting range! Bill had converted part of his land into a practice area, and it was not just some stationary target as well. He had set up a catapult-like device to shoot orange targets into the air, and one could then take aim at the moving target! Bill and Billy were patient with us as we struggled to successfully hit the targets; 8 year old Billy, an expert shooter, really put us to shame, especially our guys who had been through National Service! We also had the opportunity to get up close and personal with a neighbour’s ponies! A highlight of the day for many of us was taking a ride in Billy and Arielle’s go-karts! They had their very own go-karts which they frequently raced each other with, and it was simply incredible tearing down the backyard in the numbing cold at such high speeds! The children also gave us rides, which scared many of my friends, for it seemed that the children were indeed fearless! They also had a whole variety of pets for us to fuss over, including two cats, a litter of kittens, a rabbit, a tree frog, and Max of course. Being a city girl, I used to wonder what people living in surburban areas did in their free time to entertain themselves, and now I knew. The Kolens even had a swimming pool and a playground in their three acre backyard, and a boat to take out to the river in warmer weather!
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| Round 1 - The Dinner Spread |
We also found out why Jill had suggested that we arrive at 12 noon. Sure, the main attraction of the evening, the 12 pound turkey, was still basting in the oven when we arrived, but there was so much other food waiting to be eaten! The Kolens had really gone out of their way to make us feel special! There were many different types of cheese and crackers, hor'd oeuvres such as shrimp, escargots, salt-baked clams with a special seasoning on it, fresh oysters, mussels, corn muffins, cookies and hot vegetable soup, with white wine, soft drinks and beer to wash it all down with! We were literally eating non-stop the whole time, no matter what exactly we were doing then! At around 530pm, the turkey was finally ready, and before we sat down for the great feast, Jill brought out a wishbone from last year’s Thanksgiving turkey and explained that traditionally, two people would hold each end and pull it at the same time. Before doing so, however, each must make a wish, and if one ended up with the larger piece of the wishbone, the person’s wish would be fulfilled within the year. Thus, two of my friends fought it out enthusiastically over the wishbone! The dinner was simply fantastic; a proper traditional Thanksgiving Dinner, complete with stuffing, mashed potatoes and home-made cranberry sauce, and we had a great time chatting and simply enjoying each others’ company.
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| This is Round 2 - Dessert! Did I mention this is just part of it? |
After dinner, we scattered off doing different thing: helping to wash up, playing games with Arielle, wrestling with Billy, watching cartoons, drinking tea and having conversations with each other. Then came dessert time. Jill had, with the help of 5 year old Arielle, made 8 different pies and cakes, not to mention pumpkin ice cream and baklava, this delicious Greek dessert. By that time, we were about as stuffed as the turkey was, but we still managed to finish a considerable amount of the desserts because they were simply irresistable. Bill and Jill shared with us the story of their romance and the things they go through in their daily lives, at work and at home; we told them about what life in Singapore was like, and what we do here in Philadelphia, and we all came away with a deepened understanding and appreciation of each others’ cultures.
Thanksgiving 2005 was the first, and perhaps the last time I celebrated this holiday, but it was an event which has left one of the deepest impressions on me; I now saw life from the American point of view, and not just the ‘Hollywood/New York City razzle dazzle’ that most of us are exposed to through the media. I now had a greater feel of the lifestyle and the issues which the majority of Americans deal with each day of their lives, what it was like living and working in the suburbs and their practices, which presented me with a more balanced view to counter the city exposure I have had for the longest time. And once again, I am reminded of just how warm and hospitable Americans can be. I cannot thank the Kolens enough for opening up their home and hearts to us, and my friends for going on the hay ride that Halloween weekend!
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