加拿大与美国的感恩节文化PK

Like the United States, Canada gives thanks for its good fortune once a year and eats itself silly with turkey and mashed potatoes.

美国是在1863年，由总统林肯正式宣布感恩节为国定假日。通常美国感恩节的典故总是离不开清教徒和著名领袖布雷德福、102名同伴、重180吨长90英尺的木制帆船五月花号、科德角湾、普利茅斯港、印度安人和酋长马萨索德。这些是美洲新英格兰第一个永久性殖民地的历史见证。

Whereas in the US, Thanksgiving is celebrated on the fourth Thursday of November, in Canada the second Monday of October is a statutory, or public, holiday. This year, Canadian Thanksgiving falls on Monday, Oct 12, 2009.

加拿大感恩节的庆祝活动是在十月的第二个星期一。与美国人缅怀清教徒先辈定居新大陆的传统不同，加拿大人主要感谢上天给予的成功的收获。加拿大的感恩节早于美国的感恩节，一个简单的事实是，加拿大的收获季节相对于美国早一些，因为加拿大更靠近北部。加拿大的感恩节通常被认为受三个传统习惯的影响。

The Canadian Thanksgiving holiday is officially observed on the second Monday of October, however people generally get together for their Thanksgiving meal on any one of the three days of this three-day holiday weekend.

Although Canadians do tend to get together on Thanksgiving weekend, the holiday is not as big a deal in Canada as it is in the US, where Thanksgiving seems to be the year's biggest holiday occasion. Nevertheless, Thanksgiving weekend is a popular time for Canadians to gather with family, so more people than usual are traveling on that weekend.

两国的感恩节之间有许多相似性，譬如装满花果谷物象征丰饶的山羊角（cornucopia）和南瓜饼（pumpkin pie）。加拿大感恩大餐的餐桌上的食物通常也与地域和时间的变化而不同，有些是鹿肉和水鸟，有些是野鸭野鹅，但目前主要是火鸡和火腿。