今日、11月第４木曜日はThanksgiving Day（感謝祭）。
ESLの先生は、ケーキを焼いてみんなに振舞ってくれたし、ダンナサマの水曜の授業も先生が落ち着かないらしく、どの授業も早くに終わったらしい。
正月とゴールデンウイークが一緒に来たようなものなのでしょう。
大概4連休になって、どこかへ旅行に行くか実家に帰るかするみたいで、昨日の夜のニュースを見たら、LAXの混雑ぶりとFreewayの混雑状況が流れていました。
何だか、みんな浮かれ気分の様な気がします。
そのみんなが浮かれているThanksgiving Dayはアメリカとカナダの祝日です。
その発祥は、ESLで資料をもらったので、そっくりそのまま転載しておきます。
読みたい方は続きを↓をどうぞ（英文です）
A long time ago the Pilgrims Lived in England. All the people in England had to pray in the king's church. The pilgrims did not like the king's church. They wanted to pray in their own church.
The pilgrims left England and went to a small country called Holland. There was freedom of religion in Holland. Freedom of religion means that all people can pray the way they want to pray. The Pilgrims could pray in their own church in Holland.
The people of Holland are called the Dutch. They speak the Dutch language. The Pilgrims did not like living in Holland. They wanted to keep their English ways. They decided to go to America where they could live as they wanted and have freedom of religion.
In 1620, the Pilgrims left Holland for America. They had a ship. Their ship was the Mayflower. The trip was slow. The weather was rainy and cold. Many Pilgrims became sick.
The mayflower landed in Massachusetts. The Pilgrims started a town called Plymouth. The first winter in Plymouth was terrible. Many Pilgrims died. There was little food.
The Indians helped the Pilgrims. They helped the Pilgrims hunt and fish. The Indians showed them how to plant corn. The Pilgrims built a church. Then the Pilgrims built houses.
By November 1621 the Pilgrims had a lot of food. They would not be hungry that winter. The Pilgrims were very happy.
The Indians and the Pilgrims had the first Thanksgiving in November 1621. The Pilgrims and the Indians had a party. The Pilgrims gave thanks to God for helping them. They said "thank you" to the Indians for helping them. This was the first Thanksgiving in America.
