Here’s why you should celebrate Friendsgiving from an American at the Uni of Birmingham

It was a chilly October evening during my first year at uni when I realised it would be my first Thanksgiving spent away from my family in New Jersey. My endearingly loud and equally abundant Italian family would be baking my Nonna’s pumpkin pie, begging my little cousins to finish their turkey, and laughing over how one of my aunts forgot to bring something or other, all while I sat in my tiny Maple Bank flat, just another day. 

But it didn’t have to be! My flatmates were slightly skeptical when I requested that we cook an enormous amount of food in our very humble kitchen and pile all our closest friends on our sofas. However, what could’ve been just another day at uni turned out to be an incredibly wholesome night filled with community, delicious food, and so much laughter. So here are four reasons you should celebrate Friendsgiving with your friends this year.

Cornbread

Okay, not just cornbread but my roommates (who have been begging me to make more cornbread since last November) would definitely tell you it was a highlight.

Friendsgiving is the perfect time to really flex your culinary muscles with all of your friends or try a new seasonal recipe! Everyone is encouraged to bring something, whether it’s an American classic like pumpkin pie or fluffy buttery biscuits, or something classically British like Yorkshire pudding or mince pies. This way everyone pitches in a little bit and everyone gets to sufficiently stuff themselves on tasty food!

Beating the winter blues

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I’m not sure who thought the sun setting at four in the afternoon was a good thing for anyone really but why not light the dark up with a bit of festiveness? I always found that Thanksgiving provided a little stepping stone between Halloween and Christmas that made the transition into the dark and cold winter nights that much easier.

So, instead of calling it a night at 6pm on the 28th, give yourself something to look forward to and plan for, both of which can help fight seasonal depression.

Gratitude

Perhaps the only thing on this list that my very British flatmates were particularly hesitant about. It’s a classic thanksgiving tradition to go around the room and share at least one thing you’re grateful for. However, I’ve learned that being slightly vulnerable in front of a room full of people is perhaps something I’ve been conditioned by my very outspoken Italian family to be un-phased about. But this doesn’t have to be scary!

Sharing the things you’re grateful for with people you love can be such a meaningful way to end the year, become closer with the people around you, and find a new appreciation for all the abundance in your life!

Community

Last year I found myself inviting nearly everyone I bumped into to our Friendsgiving. A course mate I was doing a project with, a fellow American that would also be missing thanksgiving, other international students I had met.

My favourite part was inviting as many people as I could and finding myself at the end of the night surrounded by so many amazing people who otherwise might not have shared such a special night with one another. Thanksgiving knows no religion and harbours no barriers.

Everyone is welcome. It is for this reason that every year I want to share this special holiday with as many people as possible in the hopes that, after I eventually move back home to the states, there are a handful of people who know they don’t have to be American to light up the darkest part of year with laughter, joy, and of course cornbread.