When October rolls around, it means a lot of things have come. Colder weather, exams for students and a seasonal transition. For me, whenever October came around I knew it was time for Thanksgiving.

At least in Canada.

Canadians celebrate thanksgiving one month earlier than Americans, but the holiday is founded on the exact same basis. There is no exact reason why Canadians have it earlier, but one could be that because it is up north the harvest occurs earlier than the Americans. Following the early settlers’ harvest after a harsh year of adapting to the climates and changes in the new world, with the help of the Native Americans planting and harvesting they gathered together to celebrate the first harvest and recount the blessing they had experienced during the year.
Canadian thanksgiving dates were officially recognized as a national holiday in 1879. Thanksgiving is spent with family and friends enjoying communal lunches and enjoying the transition of seasons.

As a Canadian student at IE, I was stoked to have met another Canadian at the club fair given that all of my first year I hadn’t met any others, and we agreed that this would be something special to share with IE students, many of which had probably never celebrated this holiday before.

We promoted the event through the cultural excursions club as well as campus life and we waited for people that wanted to share this intimate home dinner together.

I was excited that 7 diverse individuals, each from a different country, representing the Canadian diversity that I love, gathered together this past Sunday to experience something they had never experienced before.  time for each of them, I was happy to share an important part of my culture and tradition with my peers, and meet new friends. Strangers really are friends you haven’t met yet. There’s no better way to meet people than over a meal.

I encourage you to reflect on this past year and focus on being grateful for what you’ve experienced and for what is yet to come.