I can hear my father yelling from the living room, smell the slightly burnt turkey my mother tries so hard to make and see those crisp leaves on my front yard now. How I long to sleep in my own bed, see my high school friends that I haven't seen in so long and sit around and do absolutely nothing.
This will be my first Thanksgiving after being away at college, and I'm a little skeptical as to how it will pan out. How much have my friends changed since graduation? Will my dogs still remember me? Will there be talk of who gained the freshman 15?
Maybe this isn't going to be the relaxing break I thought it was intended to be.
At the very least, Thanksgiving break arrives at the perfect time for college students. Having just finished cramming for exams and with only two weeks until finals, it's a time to relax before retreating to the library to study before the semester ends.
Thanksgiving is also a treat after months of dining commons meals. It's fascinating how each family celebrates with distinct culinary traditions, complete with special recipes for mashed potatoes, turkey, stuffing, pumpkin pie and all the other calorie-infused goodies that is Thanksgiving dinner.
But to me, at least, what's more important is how families go about giving thanks.
As with most families, my own personal Thanksgiving experience involves traditionally saying what we're thankful for before eating. Others, however, may not even make a huge deal of the holiday. Some may volunteer at a shelter. No matter how one's family goes about giving thanks, it always seems to get done. You're giving thanks for any number of things: your family, your job, your education, anything. Everyone has a different reason and no answer is wrong.
That's what I love about Thanksgiving. There are no set rules on how to celebrate it. Granted, there aren't exactly rules on how to celebrate other holidays either, but Thanksgiving seems the most lax. No scrambling around the day before for the perfect Thanksgiving gift, no dressing up for the dreaded Thanksgiving picture, and no crazy fictional character you have to lie to your younger relatives about. Just hanging out, watching football, chatting with relatives and pigging out -- only to go into a small coma from all the delicious side dishes and tryptophan in the turkey.
I find it funny each year at Thanksgiving how hard my mom tries to cook the turkey just right, with the perfect amount of stuffing, seasoning and broth. While waiting impatiently to cut it, my dad cracks jokes and gives the poor bird a name, which inevitably ends up as "Tom the turkey" every year. No matter how stressed out my mom gets about cooking "Tom" to perfection, she always manages to put her uncertainties aside, and bring the family together for an awesome meal, year after year.
Sometimes I forget Thanksgiving isn't a holiday celebrated globally, like Christmas or New Years Eve. Having a friend from England, I asked her what her plans were for Thanksgiving break. Of course her response was "nothing," because they don't get that sort of break across the pond. Thanksgiving has always been such a big part of my life it's hard to think of it as being classified as only an American holiday.
No matter what your plans are this Thanksgiving break, make sure it's relaxing. Eat some turkey, watch some tube and wear those XL sized sweatpants so you don't feel like such a heifer at the dinner table.
Even though this has been an eventful year for me -- graduating high school and going off to college -- I'm looking forward to Thanksgiving, a holiday that has always been consistent in my life.
Sarah Williams is a freshman and majoring in media studies and is a TV reporter for The Daily Collegian. Her e-mail is sww5076@psu.edu.
