Friendsgiving is a thing

Thanksgiving season is here and the signs are all around. For one thing, Starbucks is playing Christmas music. Our inboxes are full of Black Friday sales notifications from every store we’ve ever been forced to give our email to, trying to convince us to buy something for our “special someone” this holiday season.

Most shockingly, we suddenly care about our assignments because the end of the semester is near and our grades are not looking too great.

The most “oh-whoops-I-forgot-this-was-happening” holiday is here, folks.

For some, Thanksgiving means the first bus ticket out of here to mashed potato heaven courtesy of a favorite aunt.

But for others, it means staying on campus with all the other Floridians or Californians who live too far away — or with those who really can’t stand the stuffing their mom forces them to eat.

It may seem a bit lonely when the campus starts to look deserted, but that doesn’t mean we can’t have an amazing Thanksgiving with friends who decided to stay in town.

Friendsgiving is a thing and it is glorious.

No longer will we have to worry about wearing a new blouse our mother got us and insists we wear in front of the whole family.

No longer will we have to sit through hours of our conservative uncles fighting with our liberal uncles about what will make America great again.

No longer will we have to fight our younger cousin for the bigger piece of turkey.

Friendsgiving is about spending time with the people who we’ve grown close to during the short time we’ve been in college.

As junior Darling Guiterrez puts it: “Friendsgiving is a way for me to have a Thanksgiving away from home with people I love. Going home is hard sometimes because of the distance, so being able to celebrate what I’m thankful for with people I’m thankful for is amazing.

“I get to eat as much as I want and do everything I normally do for Thanksgiving, without the hassle of family drama. I think having a Friendsgiving shows how you can find a family outside of your own family. I’m planning on cooking the whole day with my friends, and eating the whole night.”

Senior Laura Montoya has spent Thanksgiving in Ithaca for three years.

“It was hard at first, especially freshman year, being away from home,” she said. “But as the years passed by we ended up hosting Friendsgiving for those who came. It was nice! It was another family away from home.”

So yeah, maybe we won’t be able to cook a turkey as well as our mom and aunts can. But that doesn’t mean we can’t have an amazing dinner.

If you’re looking to cook on your own, there are tons of easy recipes online and who knows, the friends you invited to help cook could end up being master chefs.

But if you’re looking to just share a meal with friends without all the hassle, then Cornell offers you a few options too.

Thanksgiving Dinner at Willard Straight Hall (Wednesday, November 25th)

There is an event up on Facebook called “Thanksgiving Dinner!” that will host a delicious holiday dinner in the Memorial Room of Willard Straight Hall for only $5 tonight. It’s sponsored by the Multicultural Greek Letter Council, The Latino Living Center, International Students Union, the Panhellenic Association and the Interfraternity Council.

RPCC’s Annual All-Campus Traditional Thanksgiving Feast (Thursday, November 26th)

RPCC has its annual All-Campus Traditional Thanksgiving Feast on Thursday 26th. Everyone is invited and the price is $14 for adult, $8 for children ages 6-12, and FREE for children under 5 years old. Ticket information can be found here.

Or, you could spend Thanksgiving eating cereal at home or in a dining hall with your best friend because both of you suck at cooking.

You could spend Thanksgiving with your buddy in the library studying for an exam you know everyone is stressing about.

Or you could go have an amazing dinner at Willard Straight Hall.

Whatever you decide to do for dinner, as long as you spend it with a group of fun people you click with, it’ll be a good Friendsgiving.

Happy Thanksgiving!