Thanksgiving in Warsaw

This was my first Thanksgiving spent overseas, and I would like to extend my complements to the Fulbright Commission and the staff of Restauracja Stary Dom, which is at ul. Puławska 104/106. While it was not exactly like a Thanksgiving at home (the stuffing was a little bit different, and the cranberry sauce had the consistency of salad dressing rather than the half-pudding relish that is more traditional), under the circumstances it was an excellent approximation. I felt very blessed to have a surrogate family for the holiday in the form of my fellow Fulbright scholars and their guests, some of whom were Poles experiencing their first taste of the great American ritual meal.

The Fulbrighters were asked to write a short summary of the holiday for the Commission, my piece was read by our director to the assembled guests before dinner. What I wrote appears below:

Thanksgiving is perhaps the most important holiday in the American calendar. Though it lacks the pomp of the Fourth of July, the religiosity of Easter and general cheer of Christmas, it has something that all those others lack, namely a ritual meal that is celebrated by Americans of every race, religion, ethic background and social class. Thanksgiving is a holiday that links all Americans in a culture where national identity has always been loosely defined and unclear.  The holiday has also lost little of its meaning over the years, in contrast to Christmas which many bemoan has become too commercial and Memorial Day, which has become more about barbeques and softball than honoring the war dead.

                The holiday itself revolves around dinner, which consists of a number of dishes that must be there. Grandpa may hate green beans, but will be very upset if they aren’t on the Thanksgiving table. More Americans can probably name the major courses of this dinner (turkey, stuffing, cranberries, green beans, white and sweet mashed potatoes, squash, corn, pumpkin pie) than can name the current Speaker of the House of Representatives or at least half of the Supreme Court justices. The other tradition is, of course, to watch American football. Who sits around the table is just as important as what is on it: there is an expectation that people will travel home for this holiday. Not being able to make it to Thanksgiving is very unusual, and one of the complicating factors in some families is who will be spending Thanksgiving with whom. This is only the second Thanksgiving I am spending away from my parents, and one of the very few I will be spending away from extended family. The analogy I would draw for those in Poland is Wigilia dinner, with considerably less religion involved.

                To speak plainly, Thanksgiving is about three things: food, family, and feeling thankful to have both. It can also function as a day of remembrance. We do not celebrate All Saint’s Day as is done in Poland, and there is no equivalent day in the U.S. As certain people are expected to be at dinner, when they die or get married and spend Thanksgiving with another family, this is noticeable, and an opportunity to reminisce. Thanksgiving is a holiday I always think of fondly. Now, please pass the stuffing.