My Thanksgiving in Korea

[성김 대사]

Is it December already?  This is a month for end-of-the-year parties, renewing old friendships and honestly, just a season to celebrate.  But like most Americans, my holiday season begins at the end of November with Thanksgiving.

Happy belated Thanksgiving, everyone!

Thanksgiving is one of the biggest holidays of the year in the U.S., and many compare its significance to Chuseok.  Personally, it is one of my favorite holidays because on Thanksgiving Americans take the opportunity to think about all the things they are thankful for.  This year, I sure have a lot! 

First off, my family is here.  Last year, they were in the States and we had to spend Thanksgiving apart.  I am also thankful for the amazing first year I have had as U.S. Ambassador to Korea.  Thank you to all of you for helping to make my time here so special.  And I have to say it once again, I am thankful that I am working in my dream job.

This year I was lucky enough to enjoy not one, but two wonderful Thanksgiving celebrations.  The first was with the Fulbright English Teaching Assistants.  This has been an annual tradition for many, many years where these young, enthusiastic Americans who are teaching all over the Peninsula come to Seoul.  As Ambassador, I annually host them for a special Thanksgiving meal.  This year, about 130 of them joined me for some turkey.  A real highlight for me was seeing firsthand just how much they are enjoying Korea.  You can hear the enthusiasm in their voices.  I also know they are missing America, because boy, can they eat!  I have never seen so much food disappear so quickly! 

Thanksgiving dinner with English Teaching Assistants at the National Folk Museum

On Thanksgiving Day, I was able to celebrate with my family.  Cooking for Thanksgiving is not an easy task.  For one thing, turkey is famously time-intensive and difficult to cook well.  On top of that, there are all the dishes like mashed potatoes, gravy, stuffing, cranberry sauce and pumpkin pie.  We could have gone to a restaurant or a friend’s house, but my daughters insisted that their mom had to cook the turkey.  And I have to admit, I am thankful for that, too, because my wife is a wonderful cook.

There are a few other embassy traditions that happen around Thanksgiving.  The U.S. Marine Corps was founded in November, and we mark the occasion with our Marines who are part of the Embassy’s Marine Security Guard Detachment.  These young Marines are dedicated and disciplined, and I thank them every day for their hard work.  This year, the 237^th Marine Corps’ Birthday Ball fell on Thanksgiving weekend.       

Marine Ball – one of my favorite events of the year

As for the rest of the Embassy community, those who were not up to the task of cooking such an elaborate meal joined the U.S. Embassy Association for an “all hands” Thanksgiving dinner that brought the community together. 

But Thanksgiving is not all about eating.  There are the traditional football games, and Christmas shopping officially begins the day after Thanksgiving on what is known as “Black Friday.”   On this day, most stores open extremely early and offer crazy deals to kick off the holiday shopping season.  For me, Black Friday is not a particularly special day, but rather the day my daughters start asking for Christmas presents! 

On Black Friday, the day after Thanksgiving, Americans are really busy shopping!

Although you don’t celebrate Thanksgiving in Korea, I hope you all have lots to be thankful for this year!