异国风俗介绍：加拿大感恩节
每年加拿大和美国都会举办感恩节 (Thanksgiving Day)来庆祝丰收、感谢大自然、感谢上苍，赐给我们丰沛的阳光与甘露，让谷物生长，使我们平安又度过一年，是感恩的主题。
但不是同一天，加拿大的感恩节是每年十月第二个周一，规定从这一天起休假三天;这一天就相当于中国的中秋节，是团聚的日子，即时漂泊在外的人也都要在节日前赶回去与家人团聚，吃火鸡，狂欢，享受难得的快乐。
传统的烤火鸡，是在鸡腹中塞满以面包丁、洋葱、芹菜、鼠尾草为主的作料之后，放入烤箱中充足的烘烤即可上桌。一般的主妇喜欢越大越好，因为当天吃不完的，巧手就可变化成火鸡派、火鸡馅饼，颇有我们吃年菜的味道。
至于南瓜派，加拿大最传统的吃法，是淋上盛产的蔓越莓酱汁(Cranberry sauce)，而做南瓜派的小心得，据加国友人透露，以罐头南瓜制作会比新鲜的来的香醇顺口。
节日意义
感恩节就其意义和庆祝方式来说，从1621年以来，几乎没有什么变化。在这一天，各个教派的教堂都开放，向上帝的慷慨恩赐表示感谢。感恩节是个家庭节日，全国各地，丈夫和妻子、孩子和老人，从市到镇、从镇到乡、从乡到庄，都回到老家共度节日。回不了家的人也打长途电话和父母家人畅谈，分享感恩的事。感恩节的正餐，全国上下实际上都一样。餐桌上总是摆满了各式各样的美味食品。自然主要是火鸡。吃南瓜馅饼是让大家记得当年印第安人曾送给第一批定居者这样的礼物。在大多数家庭里，饭后都会做一些传统的游戏。感恩节是一项愉快的庆祝活动，是一个家庭团聚的日子，是重叙友情的时刻。在那一天，就是单身汉也总是被邀请到别人的家里，同大家一起分享感恩的欢乐，并且感谢上帝的恩惠。这也是感恩节的意义所在。
感恩节的英语介绍
ThanksgivingDay is the most truly American of the national Holidays in the United Statesand is most closely connected with the earliest history of the country.
In 1620, the settlers,or Pilgrims, they sailed to America on the May flower, seeking a place wherethey could have freedom of worship. After a tempestuous two-month voyage theylanded at in icy November, what is now Plymouth, Massachusetts.
During their firstwinter, over half of the settlers died of starvation or epidemics. Those whosurvived began sowing in the first spring.
All summer long theywaited for the harvests with great anxiety, knowing that their lives and thefuture existence of the colony depended on the coming harvest. Finally thefields produced a yield rich beyond expectations. And therefore it was decidedthat a day of thanksgiving to the Lord be fixed. Years later, President of theUnited States proclaimed the fourth Thursday of November as Thanksgiving Dayevery year. The celebration of Thanksgiving Day has been observed on that dateuntil today.
The pattern of theThanksgiving celebration has never changed through the years. The big familydinner is planned months ahead. On the dinner table, people will find apples,oranges, chestnuts, walnuts and grapes. There will be plum pudding, mince pie,other varieties of food and cranberry juice and squash. The best and mostattractive among them are roast turkey and pumpkin pie. They have been the mosttraditional and favorite food on Thanksgiving Day throughout the years.
Everyone agrees thedinner must be built around roast turkey stuffed with a bread dressing toabsorb the tasty juices as it roasts. But as cooking varies with families andwith the regions where one lives, it is not easy to get a consensus on theprecise kind of stuffing for the royal bird.
Thanksgiving today is,in every sense, a national annual holiday on which Americans of all faiths andbackgrounds join in to express their thanks for the year' s bounty andreverently ask for continued blessings.
感恩节是美国国定假日中最地道、最美国式的节日，而且它和早期美国历史最为密切相关。
1620年，一些朝圣者(或称为清教徒)乘坐"五月花"号船去美国寻求宗教自由。他们在海上颠簸折腾了两个月之后，终于在酷寒的十一月里，在现在的马萨诸塞州的普里茅斯登陆。
在第一个冬天，半数以上的移民都死于饥饿和传染病，活下来的人们在第一个春季开始播种。整个夏天他们都热切地盼望着丰收的到来，他们深知自己的生存以及殖民地的存在与否都将取决于即将到来的收成。后来，庄稼获得了意外的丰收，所以大家决定要选一个日子来感谢上帝的恩典。多年以后，美国总统宣布每年十一月的第四个星期四为感恩节。感恩节庆祝活动便定在这一天，直到如今。
感恩节庆祝模式许多年来从未改变。丰盛的家宴早在几个月之前就开始着手准备。人们在餐桌上可以吃到苹果、桔子、栗子、胡桃和葡萄，还有葡萄干布丁、碎肉馅饼、各种其它食物以及红莓苔汁和鲜果汁，其中最妙和最吸引人的大菜是烤火鸡和番瓜馅饼，这些菜一直是感恩节中最富于传统意义和最受人喜爱的食品。
人人都赞成感恩节大餐必需以烤火鸡为主菜。火鸡在烘烤时要以面包作填料以吸收从中流出来的美味汁液，但烹饪技艺常因家庭和地区的不同而各异，应用什幺填料也就很难求得一致。
今天的感恩节是一个不折不扣的国定假日。在这一天，具有各种信仰和各种背景的美国人，共同为他们一年来所受到的上苍的恩典表示感谢，虔诚地祈求上帝继续赐福。