This year, I celebrated my very first Thanksgiving in the United States, an experience that felt both heart-warming, memorable, and wonderfully delicious. As I am still relatively new to the country and don’t yet have any established family traditions here, I was invited to a Friendsgiving, a gathering where friends rather than family come together to celebrate. It turned out to be the perfect and genuinely welcoming introduction to one of America’s most cherished holidays.
Thanksgiving is a holiday dedicated to expressing gratitude for the blessings of the past year. Its origins trace back to the 1621 harvest feast shared between the Wampanoag people and the English colonists. Over time, this early gathering evolved into a national tradition, formally established as a holiday by President Abraham Lincoln in 1863. Today, Thanksgiving is celebrated annually on the fourth Thursday of November.
Friendsgiving is built around a collaborative dinner, with every guest contributing sidedishes, desserts or drinks. Our host welcomed us with an impressive roast. Instead of serving a classic turkey, she prepared two whole chickens, explaining that she prefers the juiciness and richer flavor of chicken over what can sometimes be a dry turkey. I prepared a smooth pumpkin hummus served with toasted bread and carrot sticks; a fresh baby spinach salad with pickled dates and onions, topped with roasted pita bread and almonds. For dessert, I brought one of my all-time favorites: a classic tiramisu, made from an authentic Italian recipe I learned years ago and still treasure.
We were a wonderfully international group of ten people, with friends from the United States, Germany, France, Portugal, Macau, and Australia. It made the evening feel even more special. After dinner, we played board games, laughed a lot, and continued talking late into the night. For a first Thanksgiving, I couldn’t have imagined a warmer or more welcoming experience.
