Hello from Brittani

ブリタニ先生からお便りが届きました。近況や11月のThanksgiving について書いてあります。アメリカの文化について勉強になります。ぜひ読んでみてください。


Hey everyone!

I hope everyone has been well! How are things going? Have the fall leaves arrived yet? That’s one thing I miss most about Japan: The seasons. Southern California doesn’t really have seasons. It’s mostly spring or summer. Of course, there are places in California (and the U.S. too) that have beautiful seasons, especially fall colors. Will anyone go and visit the leaves? Where will you go?

Next week, we have Thanksgiving. This is a pretty important holiday but recently it has been overlooked. Why? After Halloween, there are many commercials, products, songs, etc. for Christmas. Thanksgiving is a little like Christmas. It is a family and friends based event. We roast a full turkey with stuffing, have green beans, mashed potatoes and pie. Every family is a little different on the kinds of food they will cook. I like to make creamed corn. It’s a little sweet but tastes delicious. This Thanksgiving, we will have people come to my house. We usually decorate the house with fall colors and a stuffed animal turkey. Before we eat, we go around the table and say what we are thankful for.

But do you know how Thanksgiving started? They say it was when the Pilgrims came over to the US. When they harvested the fruits and vegetables, they wanted to give thanks for the abundance of food they had. In some stories, they also had a feast with the Native Americans who helped them to plant their food earlier that year. Unlike Christmas, this holiday is not “religious” so many American can celebrate it.

After Thanksgiving, we have Black Friday. This is a day many people begin shopping for Christmas. There are many great deals so you can get things very cheap. Some people camp out near the place they want to shop at. People can be a little crazy on Black Friday. The malls are very crowded and parking is very difficult so I try to stay away from those crazy places. You can also get a lot of good deals online.

My life hasn’t been super exciting. I have a new job that I started in June. I am a product coordinator at a travel company. I do contracting and create the experiences you would do if you went on bus tour. It’s not really that interesting to be honest. I will have to work harder to find a better job (haha!).

Earlier this year, I went a on cruise. We went to Italy and Greece. Greece is so amazing! I loved it. I went to Santorini and Mykonos. Those were my favorite places. The views and buildings were breathtaking. I cannot recommend these places more. You must go. Italy was also nice but I had been there before.

I think that’s all for now! I miss you all! Stay awesome 🙂

Brittani