Thanksgiving is right around the corner and I’m sure many of you have already started planning for your holiday celebration. For many of our hosts, this year’s Thanksgiving day meal will be shared with their international visitor! Thanksgiving is a holiday that is unique to the U.S. which also makes it a very interesting celebration for international visitors. As a host, you should do your best to expose your visitor to this cultural holiday, as it is a very special experience.
Thanksgiving is not a religion based holiday and therefore each family has different ways of celebrating the day and enjoying different foods.
With Thanksgiving, comes Thanksgiving break and many students will have a brief vacation from school. This holiday weekend is a good time for hosts to spend time with their students and participate in fun Thanksgiving – related activities together. If you’re not sure what to do with your student during Thanksgiving and their days off from school, here are some ideas!
Enjoy a Thanksgiving Meal
Thanksgiving would of course not be complete without the Thanksgiving feast! As I’ve said before, every family celebrates the holiday differently and serves different foods. However, no matter what you serve, your visitor will feel grateful to be included in your celebration and sharing a Thanksgiving meal together will be a memorable experience for both you and your visitor. If you feel comfortable, let your visitor help you prepare for the day! Bake a dessert together or show them how you cook the entree. The best part about making a lot of food for Thanksgiving is that you get to enjoy the leftovers the next day 🙂
Go Black Friday Shopping!
Another Thanksgiving tradition I take part in every year is Black Friday. Maybe I’m crazy, but I actually look forward to getting up at 5:00am to join the frenzy of shoppers at South Shore Plaza. This website shows Black Friday deals for all your favorite stores. Black Friday can be a fun and new experience, but if the idea of getting up when it’s still dark out doesn’t appeal to you there are other shopping opportunities this Thanksgiving weekend. A festive idea is to visit a holiday market, like the Local First Holiday Market in Somerville or the Christmas in New England store at Faneuil Hall.
Watch a Football Game!
Many high schools in the Boston area have big football games on Thanksgiving. I know in my own home town it is a tradition for all the alumni to come back and watch the game on Thanksgiving Day. Bring your visitor to a game and cheer on your town together! Maybe you even have a football player or cheerleader in your family that you can support. Another option is to watch a professional football game on TV. Here is a schedule of all the NFL games that will be airing this Turkey Day!
Right around Thanksgiving is when most of the city’s outdoor skating rinks open for the winter season. Boston Common’s outdoor skating rink, Frog Pond, is open to the public for skating and skate rentals beginning in mid -November. There are also many other indoor rinks in the city that offer public skating and skate rentals throughout the week, such as Steriti Memorial Rink in the North End and Simioni Memorial Rink in Cambridge. You can find a complete list of all the Boston area public skating rinks here.
