Thanksgiving originated in North America in the cold November of 1621 in the famous Plymouth Colony. But some historians like Micheal Gannon argue it was actually in Florida in 1565 when a Spanish fleet arrived in the New World and planted a cross in the sand, celebrating their arrival with a large feast with the native Timucuan people. Despite that, Plymouth, Massachusetts, is still widely regarded as the place where the first Thanksgiving happened. As the story goes, after the Pilgrim’s first successful harvest they celebrated their bounty with the Wampanoag people. So, naturally, it’s an extremely American holiday, only celebrated here.
Knowing this, The Nest was curious. What is Thanksgiving like for Brentwood students who aren’t from the U.S. or whose parents aren’t from the U.S.? Here are a few of those stories!
“I don’t really know anything about the tradition,” said junior Johannes Mortsiefer. Mortsiefer, a German exchange student, is staying in the U.S. with the Spencer family this year, and in a few short days, he’ll be celebrating his first Thanksgiving. While he’s a little lost on the history, he is quite pleased with the fact that Brentwood gives its students some days off. A big part of modern Thanksgiving is the aspect of family and Mortsiefer plans on embracing that. “They have a big family, the Spencers,” he said. “So I’m going to meet some new people. I’m kind of excited.”
While Mortsiefer excitedly awaits the break, others don’t have much to say about it. Freshman Moon Zhang moved from Guangdong, China, to America with her older sister, sophomore Chloe Zhang for education purposes. The Zhang family moved to Saint Louis in December of 2023 so this is going to be the first time they will be experiencing the holiday. Zhang and her family do not plan on celebrating this year and she doesn’t know a lot about it in general, simply grateful for the days off.
Another freshman, Bartu Alanoglu, moved to Saint Louis from Turkey in 2018. While neither Bartu’s parents nor he and his brothers were born in the U.S., the family has embraced the holiday since moving here. Every year, his mother makes a nice large dinner and the family comes over to eat, watch sports, and enjoy each other’s company. Alanoglu said, “I like seeing my cousins, uncles, and aunts. Having conversations with them is nice because I sometimes haven’t seen them in a little bit.”
While not everybody celebrates the holiday, many still use the time of year to be grateful for all they have, and that’s the spirit of the season. With the break being in just two short days, The Nest wishes everybody a happy break and a Happy Thanksgiving!
