IU recovers from Thanksgiving

The traditional Thanksgiving tale often blends stuffed birds, traveling families and the ringing sound of cash registers into a melody of grumbled gobbles.\nDuring Thanksgiving break, many IU students traded the rigors of schoolwork for the holiday traditions revolving around family, food, football and shopping. Junior George Yoritomi, who returned home to Chicago, said his favorite part of Thanksgiving was seeing friends he hasn't seen in a while, spending time with his family and eating.\n"We had the good traditional Thanksgiving dinner: turkey, stuffing, green bean casserole, yams, mashed potatoes, pumpkin pie and cranberry sauce," Yoritomi said. "There were a lot of leftovers. My mom made all of it, but we helped out. My dad was working around the house, and I watched football and slept real late."\nBut, not all students appreciated the traditional menu items offered on dinner tables across the nation. Junior Joanna McCallister, who returned home to Fowler, Ind, said she only ate turkey and stuffing since she is a picky eater.\n"I had pecan pie because it was my birthday," McCallister said. "It was my birthday on Nov. 22, but we celebrated it on Thanksgiving."\nSenior Laura Meyer, who returned home to Columbus, Ohio, said her family enjoyed some modifications of tried and true Thanksgiving side dishes. \n"My favorite Thanksgiving dish is broccoli casserole," Meyer said. "It has broccoli, cheese, bread crumbs and some sort of creamed soup. It is a lot like green bean casserole."\nDemonstrating the traditional Thanksgiving gender roles often associated with American kitchen rituals, some students witnessed the busy holiday work necessary to sustain the ceremonies involved in family gatherings and feasts. Sophomore Kelly Maden, who returned home to Kokomo, said her favorite Thanksgiving feast was seeing and spending time with her family.\n"I ate lots of food, hung out with my cousins and slept," Maden said. "My mom did the cooking; it was wonderful. My favorite is pumpkin pie, and there were plenty of leftovers to bring home to school. I don't think my dad did anything -- he didn't help out in the kitchen."\nExemplifying the changing times in traditional Thanksgiving rituals, some students participated in the holiday feasting festivities from both the kitchen stove and the living room couch. Meyer said the Thanksgiving mess created by dirty dishes lasted several days after her family's traditional feast.\n"My cousins came from Indianapolis, and both sets of grandparents were there," Meyer said. "My uncle did the turkey; my cousin carved it. There were definitely women in my family watching football, too."\nIn the name of philanthropy, good-will toward fellow person or a need to continue their holiday traditions of years gone by, some students moved their Thanksgiving celebration outside and away from the home altogether. \nMcCallister said last week's Thanksgiving holiday was the first traditional celebration her family experienced without the physical presence and projected love of her grandfather. \n"I spent my Thanksgiving in a nursing home," McCallister said. "My grandmother is there, so we spent the day with her. We had lunch, opened presents and put Christmas stuff around the room. It was a boring day, but we were together and that is all that is important."\nMeyer said her family traditional Thanksgiving celebration involves community involvement. \n"I participated in the Turkey Trot, a five mile race in Columbus," Meyer said. "Every Thanksgiving my dad, my uncle and I run with 2,500 other people. We do it in the morning." \nIn addition to traditional Thanksgiving family gatherings, marketed foods and professional football, some students sought out post-Thanksgiving shopping as a traditional form of participating in the winter holiday season. \n"I live in the middle of nowhere on a farm," McCallister said. "The closest mall is an hour and a half away, so my mom, my sister and I left to go shopping at 4:15 a.m. Thanksgiving is my holiday because it's family time; so is Christmas, but people get caught up in material things then."\nOn the other hand, not all students enjoy the commercialization of post-holiday traditions like "On-sale Friday for one day only."\n"It was a pretty late (Thanksgiving) night, so I spent the whole day recovering," Yoritomi said. "Shopping is hard enough, without all those people there."\n-- Contact staff writer David A. Nosko at dnosko@indiana.edu.