Hoje — Segunda-feira, De outubro 12, 2009 — is the Thanksgiving holiday no Canadá.

Canadenses comemoram o feriado de Ação de Graças aproximadamente seis semanas antes que os americanos. E os EUA. expatriados sempre perguntar, “Why?"

Here’s an excerpt from my book, Viver no Exterior em Portugal, sobre porque canadense de Ação de Graças é em outubro:

Enquanto Canada doesn’t share the pilgrim legends that infuse U.S. Thanksgiving traditions, the country does have a history of thanksgiving feasts….

The Canadian government first proclaimed an official holiday for “the blessings of an abundant harvest” in November 1879. For the next 40-some years, Canada celebrated Thanksgiving on varying dates in either October or November….Finally, em 1957, Parliament permanently declared that Thanksgiving would be celebrated on the second Monday of October.

Mas por que outubro? Os historiadores não concordam, embora muitos dizem que é porque October is harvest time in much of Canada. Ao final de novembro, wide swaths of the country are already covered in snow.

Most Americans will find Canada’s Thanksgiving foods familiar. Canadians typically load up their holiday table with turkey, recheio, mashed or sweet potatoes, molho de cranberry, at least of couple of other vegetables, and some sort of pie.

Canadian Living revista highlights some of the subtle differences between Thanksgiving dinners in Canada and the U.S here.

Dia feliz de Turquia!

Foto por Shoshanah (Flickr)