Yesterday was American Thanksgiving. That day is celebrated on the fourth Thursday of November in the United States, so it's always held sometime between November 22nd and November 28th. But today I'd like to tell you a little bit about Canadian Thanksgiving, since of course I'm from Canada originally!
This is a picture of a turkey (七面鳥). In many ways, Thanksgiving in Canada is the same as Thanksgiving in the U.S. For example, in both countries there are a lot of people who eat turkey on that day. Turkey tastes a lot like chicken. Pumpkin pie is often eaten for dessert at Canadian as well as American Thanksgiving. And in these two countries, we try to remember to say "thank you" for all the good things we have (such as food, health, family, etc.). But one thing that is very different: Canada has Thanksgiving in early October, and the United States has it in late November. Canadians celebrate it on the second Monday of October. It's always held sometime between October 8th and October 14th in Canada.
Here is a map of the northern part of Canada. When Canada was first discovered by Europeans hundreds of years ago, many explorers tried to find something called the "Northwest Passage" because people wanted to go from the Atlantic Ocean (大西洋) to the Pacific Ocean (太平洋). They tried to travel north of Canada and then turn west until they reached the Bering Sea, between Alaska and Russia. But it was not easy to go that way! The water is very cold near the Arctic Ocean, and there are a large number of islands up there. So a lot of boats got stuck in ice, and many people died.
The picture above is of a man named Martin Frobisher. It is thought that he was the one who started the very first Thanksgiving in Canada. In 1579, he was the leader of a group of people who were trying to discover the Northwest Passage. He took 15 ships to the northern waters of Canada, and had a very difficult time. He lost one of his ships because it came into contact with ice. A lot of materials were on that ship, and they got destroyed. But luckily, the other ships all made it safely to some calm water near one of the northern Canadian islands. They decided to stop there and say "Thank you!" to God for being alive in such a dangerous part of the world. Later, Frobisher went back to Europe. He never really found the Northwest Passage which would bring him to the Pacific Ocean. But people still remember these days to have a Thanksgiving celebration every year in Canada, and to be happy for all the good or lucky things in their lives.
One last photo I want to show you: this is called a "Nanaimo Bar". It's a special Canadian treat that we often eat on Thanksgiving. I think it's a little bit like s'mores (which we make sometimes at Starry). It has 3 layers, and one of them is chocolate. The part on the bottom is similar to the graham cracker used in s'mores. And the middle part is a kind of icing. Yum! These are so good. They are named for a city in Canada (Nanaimo). I hope you can try one someday!!!
- Peter 
