Thanksgiving is an integral part of American culture, having been celebrated for as long as all of us have been alive. Not very many of us have really thought about what this celebration looks like to people who don’t know much about it, or who haven’t celebrated it before.

Esha Fae is a junior at Ashland High School who recently moved from Australia to the U.S., and has never experienced a true American Thanksgiving before. She says, “The mysterious day of giving thanks seems to be a big part of American culture, having never experienced it or even thought about it before I am excited to be a part of the celebration.” Fae is really excited to have her first Thanksgiving meal, even though it will be vegan.

On the other side of the world, Irene Cuevas del Rio is an exchange student from Madrid, Spain. Although she has never eaten a Thanksgiving dinner, she still has a really good understanding of this holiday. Her understanding for the holiday might even be better than some Americans. “You eat turkey. It’s like a family lunch. And it’s like when you celebrate when the pilgrims came and they didn’t have anything to eat and they were dying,” she responded very excitedly. Cuevas del Rio also informed us that Christmas dinner in Spain has at least as much meaning and importance s our Thanksgiving dinner. “We don’t have anything like Thanksgiving. But Christmas is really really important in Spain because we believe in God – well I don’t – but that is the culture. We have to believe in God, so Christmas is really really important. All of the family eats together.” Although Thanksgiving is an American tradition, people from other cultures are curious and excited to see what it’s all about.