This may sound like a stupid question but......

Hi,sky,The main reason behind that celebrations- * The pilgrims left England for New Holland to escape religious persecution. * They decided to go to America because they did not like their life in New Holland. * The boarded the Mayflower and landed at Plymouth Rock on December 11, 1620. * Their first winter was terrible and they lost many of their group. * Their first harvest in the fall of 1621 was bountiful. * The celebrated the harvest with the Indians that helped them survive. The feast lasted for three days. Harvest related festivals, all the over the world are characterized with lot of fun and merrymaking. Each region has its unique customs and traditions to jubilant the occasion. http://www.thanksgiving-day.org/thanksgiving-around-world.html Have a nice day.

Hi Skyeblue, I'm from Indonesia. We do not celebrate Thanksgiving because we know its very American. But lots of the five stars hotels in our capital city, Jakarta, do have special thanksgiving menus on that day, to cater to the foreigners here. Indonesia has 33 provinces, and usually the villages still hold a kind of thanksgiving ritual for their first harvest, and most of them are influenced by Hindu religion (Before Christianity and Moslem came, we are mostly Hindu and Buddhas). Some are just simple dancing together and eating together, but some are big and festive, like the one they hold in Bali.

I don't know much about americans customs as I don't feel special interest about that country, but I can tell you that in Europe neither in Asia that day is celebrated. Seems like a local celebration. Different customs make every country special, so that's the special thing about America.