1703跨文化的饗宴-外語中心感恩節系列活動

跨文化的饗宴-外語中心感恩節系列活動By Armon Nakprasert, Foreign Language Center
Like many events in 2020, Thanksgiving will fall victim to the pandemic of COVID-19. Thanksgiving’s origins and history make it an exclusive holiday to the US. However, this year, the thankfulness and grateful practice of Thanksgiving can be shared around the world, especially in Taiwan. There are a lot of things the Taiwanese people, as well as foreigners living in Taiwan to be thankful for. Taiwan’s handling of the pandemic is one of, if not, the best in the world. We have the medical workers of Taiwan to thank as well as the central government for their handling of this terrible pandemic. Without their diligence and hard work, Taiwanese citizens would not have been able to enjoy the normal routine of their daily lives.
When speaking of the Thanksgiving holiday, the history of the pilgrims is mentioned more so than the Native Americans, the other half of the story. Perhaps it was surprising for my students to hear, during my Thanksgiving holiday lesson, that the many different tribes of Native Americans that lived around the Eastern coast of what is now Massachusetts, fell ill to smallpox a year before the pilgrim’s arrival. This disease killed off 90% of Native Americans in that area. This was the reason why Native Americans were absent in the area where the pilgrims landed, now called Plymouth Rock. Having endured the harsh and cold winter without supplies or help, the pilgrims too suffered through tough conditions that killed half of them. They endured, and when spring came, the Native Americans returned to their coastal lands and found the struggling pilgrims. Even though most Native Americans at that time were accustomed to dealing with Europeans and have developed a distrust of them, they felt the need to help the pilgrims. The Native Americans taught the pilgrims how to hunt, fish, and farm. The following fall harvest season was a great success and the pilgrims knew that they had the Native Americans to thank for it. So they invited the Native Americans over for a feast to give “thanks.” In a way, the Native Americans would be thankful as well for having survived an outbreak that killed most of their people. Hence the first Thanksgiving was born.
My students seem to have a lot to be thankful for. During my Thanksgiving activities class, some students got to color a turkey and list some of the things that they are thankful for. While other students made a turkey handprint-poem and wrote down what they are most thankful for. Some students joked and wrote down that they were thankful for their cell phones and video games (I joked back and told them that they should bring their turkeys back home to show their phones and video game systems how much they love them). Joking aside, most students did write down all the things like family, friends, and teachers. Because Taiwan responded to the pandemic so well, and life did return to normal here, I think we often take it for granted that we are lucky to be normal while people in other countries are struggling daily. Be thankful for, if nothing else, that you and the people around you are in good health. Happy Thanksgiving everyone.

106 賴重安
Americans celebrate Thanksgiving each year on the fourth Thursday in November. Thanksgiving is the time for families to get together. They talk about their blessings and they have a turkey dinner. The next day, they all go shopping. It is called “black Friday.” This is what I learned in Tr. Armon’s class during our Thanksgiving activity lesson. For my Thanksgiving, I want to thank my family for everything that they have given me.

401 張倖嘉
In my English listening class, we learned the origins and history of the American holiday of Thanksgiving. It has its origin in the faith practices of the Puritans of New England. In the 17th century, a group of Puritans traveled to the Americas on the Mayflower to escape persecution. In the beginning, they didn’t know how to live on the new land. Fortunately, Squanto taught them something about agriculture and the skills needed for hunting. To repay those people who had helped them and thanked their god for “blessing” them with a bountiful harvest, they invited the Indians to celebrate with a big feast. Thanksgiving is not practiced here in Taiwan, so the chances of having turkey dinner at home are slim. I am curious about the attitude of people in the US on Thanksgiving Day. I hope I can go to America someday to celebrate this holiday with them. All in all, because of this lesson in Mr. Armon’s class, my horizons have been expanded – there are lots of history and cultures that are waiting to be discovered.

505 賴郁樺
In our English listening class today, we talk about the Thanksgiving holiday. In the USA, families get together on Thanksgiving Day. They cook turkeys, make pumpkin pie, a lot of different foods. I think Thanksgiving is a chance for the whole family to get together. The adults will chat about their job, and kids will play together and share their toys. I think this is a very pleasant holiday. A day to be with family and spend time talking about what is happening in everybody’s life. I am also very curious about the Thanksgiving Day food because, in Taiwan, we don’t have many chances to eat a turkey. Teacher Armon told us that turkey meat is very dry, but I think it might go well mixed with rice, or maybe even stuff the rice into the turkey and bake it. Yummy Thanksgiving.