@
Lucycat, please describe St. Andrews Night.
What do most people do?
Most people don't actually do anything!
It is, obviously meant to celebrate St Andrew, the patron Saint of Scotland. He is said to have been crucified on a X, hence the X on the Scottish flag. ( in contrast to the upright cross that Jesus was on). However it has become something of a tourist tradition - with it mostly being celebrated in hotels and bars. In those places there is a meal including Haggis - of course. Then there is a ceilidh - with traditional Scottish music and dancing.
Those families that do choose to celebrate are likely to simply have a traditional Haggis meal and follow it with some whisky of course.
Rory has a cousin who is an accordion player in a Ceilidh band. The band has gone to Sweden to celebrate St Andrew's night this year, playing in a Scottish Bar in Malmo.
Although it is not widely celebrated, I think most of Scotland will at least recognise St Andrew's day, knowing when it is and talking about it. By Contrast St George's Day in England has nothing, and many folk would not know when it is.
American Thanksgiving sounds to me like an extension of what we call Harvest Festival - giving thanks to God for the Harvest. Here this is now only celebrated in Church and schools, where people are invited to donate produce which would originally have been from their own Harvest - but now usually from a Supermarket. This produce is then distributed to the needy in the community. It is not a holiday and has become something that passes by without being noticed.
I am intrigued that Thanksgiving is on a Thursday. Public Holidays here are usually a Monday, to extend the weekend. Of course the exceptions are the fixed religious festivals, and New Year. Between the Thanksgiving Thursday and the weekend there is a Friday that people have to go back to work?
