Wednesday, November 26, 2008

Happy Thanksgiving!

The Korean would like to wish all readers happy Thanksgiving, wherever you may be.

Thanksgiving is truly the Korean's favorite holiday, although sadly it is increasingly becoming an inconvenient roadblock for American retailers to get the Christmas shopping season going early.

Thanksgiving is the most American of all holidays, save perhaps the Independence Day. It is the day for immigrants. The Pilgrim's dinner with the Native Americans symbolize our ideals as a nation of immigrants: newcomers and the natives, on the same table, sharing a meal.

Beauty of history lies in that the patterns in its fabric repeat endlessly. On the Thanksgiving Day of 1997 -- some 380 years after the Pilgrims -- the Korean Family arrived at the port of Los Angeles International Airport, full of anticipation for the Land of Opportunity. The Korean Family was greeted by natives, the distant family friends who have lived in the U.S. for decades as Korean Americans. And like a beautiful fugue, the pattern repeated once again; the natives helped the immigrants to get settled in, and begin their lives in the new world.

Thus, Thanksgiving Day is doubly special for the Korean Family. We never miss celebrating it. We are thankful for all the great things in our lives, but most of all, we are thankful to be in America. Like the Pilgrims who were grateful for their new lives and new opportunities, the Korean Family is grateful, each and every year, for our own new lives and opportunities.

Got a question or a comment for the Korean? Email away at askakorean@hotmail.com.

9 comments:

  1. Happy Thanksgiving!

    I've been teaching about Thanksgiving this week, and explaining in it a pretty similar way to my kids.

    It's nice to hear the Korean family's story.

    ps.
    I'm thankful for your insights.
    ^^
    Lily @lunalil.com

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  2. The Korean is thanked for providing wonderful imagery in his Thanksgiving message.

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  3. One of the main things that makes our country great - The Mix.

    Thank you for your post - it's heartwarming.

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  5. Dear Korean,

    Thanks for sharing your wonderful Thanksgiving story, made even more heartwarming by the fact that you and your "pilgrims" didn't repay your debt of gratitude to the "natives" by stealing their lands and sending them off to live in barren reservations. :)

    All kidding aside, have a wonderful time in my old barrio, California.

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  6. Beautiful post. Gamsa hamnida! Happy Thanksgiving! Peace!

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  7. You're missing the whole genocide part of the original Thanksgiving story.

    But yeah - I like to think about my family arriving too...

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  8. I heard it is korean thanksgiving this saturday from jiho. What a noob he is.

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  9. I heard it is thanksgiving this saturday from jiho. What a noob and what a waste of time.

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