In honor of today's holiday, we'd like to share a funny Nigerian Thanksgiving moment with you. As you might expect, the only place you'll find turkeys or Thanksgiving celebrations in Lagos is within American expat communities. But, seeing as many Americans work alongside Nigerian nationals at Chevron, "Thanksgiving" was the topic of the diversity moment at Brian's most recent holiday committee meeting.Being the only white American on this particular committee, everyone asked Brian what we do for Thanksgiving. "We get together with friends and family, eat turkey, and watch a lot of (American) football."
No sooner had the words left his mouth, a Nigerian committee member chimed in: "Yes. It's very religious. They thank God for everything they have and go to church." Not wanting to be rude or prolong an already lengthy meeting, Brian didn't argue with the man. True, we do give thanks for the gifts in our life, but Thanksgiving would probably not fall on our list of "religious holidays" ...well, unless you consider football a religion.
Later that day, Brian looked over the minutes from his committee meeting, which of course included their "diversity moment" discussion. Here's what he read: "The diversity moment was given by Femi Owolowo*, who emphasized on 'Thanksgiving Day' - a yearly event in America. He mentioned that Americans observe this public holiday and exchange gifts just like Xmas and New year holidays."
So, in the spirit of "Nigerian Thanksgiving," Brian and I hope all of you have attended church, and we'll expect our Thanksgiving gifts when we return. Happy Thanksgiving everyone!
*Name has been changed.
Happy Thanksgiving to you and Brian, also. We're saving some turkey and stuffing for you and you can get it when you return.
ReplyDeleteThe best gift ever! I tried to get through to Vossmeyer Thanksgiving yesterday, but as I suspected everyone here was also trying to call home. I really missed Thanksgiving at the Judges this year=(
ReplyDeleteIt was a very religious Thanksgiving for me, praying for Baylor to pull the upset, and now praying that voters see the light and realize that 35 is not greater than 45.
ReplyDelete=( You should have prayed harder! j/k Quite the disappointment. When will they FINALLY realize the playoff system is best!
ReplyDeleteI wonder why Brian didn't explain the tradition of hunting and shooting a turduckhen for Thanksgiving!
ReplyDeleteKatie Z. told us about the turduckhen on Thanksgiving. How was it?
ReplyDeleteShe also introduced me to Google Reader. Although it was one of the tools overviewed in class I had ignored it because at the time I wasn't following a blog. This technology is sooo much fun. I am also following John's progress fund-raising for the Polar Bear Plunge.
I'm enjoying Ted.com, Katie. Thanks! Now I need a video ipod so I can take the talks to go!
I had an interesting experience in Australia as well (I'm now catching up on your blog following our great vacation). We were at a winery tasting wines - hard to imagine, I know - and the guy at the bar asked us about the "big American holiday" that was celebrated that week and then asked us to explain what it meant. Hard to put it into words for someone who doesn't understand the concept - and hard to explain it properly to Australians who had similar experiences with Aboriginals and are only recently beginning to see some of the errors of their ways. Interesting...
ReplyDeleteAnd Happy (late) Thanksgiving to you. Our feast this year consisted of mussels and beer in a beach town in New South Wales and pumpkin soup and mashed taters cooked in our campervan :)
Sara,
ReplyDeleteLaura told me about your blog at Thanks Giving. I found it by googling your name! I love your writing style. I'm so glad your blogging.
By the way at Thanks Giving Walt and I gave gifts to my mother, Laura, and JP. My mother gave Laura and me thank you gifts. When I have gone to Memphis to see Walt's family I bring an ornament for the host, Walt's aunt. And I just read about a woman who gives ornaments to every person who attends her Thanks Giving celebration.
On the other hand, at a friend's work-happy hour in September I listened to her Jewish boss talk about what Lutherans believed and how they behaved. I'm not religious but her slant sounded narrow minded to me. I didn't say anything. Neither did my Lutheran friend.