November 25, 2024 • 35 mins
Thanksgiving holiday themed episode with the twist of a European perspective! Join Mary Grace and Marco as they share their personal Thanksgiving experiences, as well as their takes on witnessing the chaos of Black Friday and all that they are thankful for this year. Enjoy!
(00:00) Intro
(00:32) Episode overview
(02:34) Marco’s thought on Thanksgiving
(03:30) A little background and history
(07:03) Do Germans know about Thanksgiving?
(09:05) Thanksgiving Experiences
(10:01) Thanksgiving Experience #1
(11:45) Thanksgiving Experience #2
(14:16) Thanksgiving foods that you don’t like
(19:34) What foods can you find at a German feast?
(21:21) Black Friday in Germany vs. America
(27:55) What are you thankful for?
(34:17) Episode wrap-up
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
(00:00):
Welcome to the Once Upon a Trip podcast, where we dive deep into sharing everything crazy travel stories, dating adventures, culture fusions, and plenty of takeaways to entertain and feed your inner curiosity and travel bug.
(00:15):
I'm your host, Mary Grace Crawford, travel enthusiast, content creator, ex-digital nomad, avid storyteller, and lover of all things Europe, based now in Atlanta, Georgia.
This is going to be another short intro that I did not script or plan because I didn't have time to plan.
(00:40):
One of the reasons why I wasn't really able to script what I wanted to script for this specific week is because Marco and I just got back from a wedding of my cousins in Nashville, Tennessee.
It was really, really fun.
But going to events like this means that you don't have as much time to do what you normally would be doing.
(01:01):
And I think if you're very busy or if you just have different events happening in your life, you know exactly what I'm talking about.
But anyway, I'm so happy you're tuned in once again this week for another really fun and cool episode, especially this week, because this is a holiday themed episode.
(01:21):
This week is a holiday week here in the U.S.
This upcoming Thursday, the 28th of November is Thanksgiving Day.
And this is one of our really biggest holidays of the entire year.
I really just thought it would be fun to bring an external source slash non-American into the idea of talking about Thanksgiving.
(01:44):
It really gives us Americans some different perspective on what foreigners think of Thanksgiving and what they know and what they expect and all of the fun stuff that comes along with learning and hearing a different perspective.
So that is exactly what we are doing today.
I'm bringing in Marco again on this episode to share his perspectives, his knowledge, his expectations and his own experiences here in America when it comes to Thanksgiving and the entire experience as a whole.
(02:18):
I'm going to go ahead and keep this little intro overview short and sweet.
Let's go ahead and jump into the episode with Marco and hear about his thoughts, etc, etc, etc.
When it comes to Thanksgiving, we hope you enjoy.
We are rolling officially again with Marco. Would you like to say hello to everyone, Marco?
(02:41):
Hello again.
Well, I think we're talking about Thanksgiving today.
Yeah, we are talking about Thanksgiving.
I felt very inspired to record a Thanksgiving episode because while we have a German involved and I think that makes things all the more interesting.
So I'm going to go ahead and start this off by asking Marco what he thinks of Thanksgiving and just his thoughts in general on the holiday.
(03:06):
I mean, it is a nice holiday.
I mean, for one thing, you don't have to work.
So that's always nice.
It's a holiday where you get together with family and just you spend quality time together.
It is interesting to me from my foreign perspective because we do not have an equivalent really to the American Thanksgiving.
(03:27):
It's a nice part of US culture, I think.
Do you know a little bit of the American history of Thanksgiving?
Well, the US Thanksgiving? Well, very, very little.
I think the first kind of exposure, like serious exposure to it, and this is really, really bad to name this as a source of education, would be South Park.
(03:49):
There was years back, there was an episode where they're, you know, with the pilgrims and, you know, so it has something to do with British colonial settlement and Native Americans.
That's kind of, but yeah, maybe you can elaborate a little bit more on that because I really don't know enough.
Well, what I can say briefly about the history of Thanksgiving, there are two versions to this story.
(04:15):
There's a real brutal, sad version, but that's not the type of story we learned in school, in American schools.
Of course not.
No, it's not.
We learn basically that the pilgrims were a group of people from England who separated from the Church of England and wanted a new start in the New World.
(04:37):
And that originally was going to be New York City, but when they boarded the Mayflower, so the boat from England where they sailed, the boat didn't land in New York City.
It actually went off course because of the wind and it instead landed in Massachusetts.
So I believe it was Cape Cod, Massachusetts.
(04:59):
It was in the year 1620 and we base our Thanksgiving on the very first known feast of 1621.
The happy version of this story that we learn as kids is basically the English colonists and the Native American Indians have a feast, like a happy feast together and they help each other survive the cold winter ahead.
(05:24):
But as we have learned from Native American tribes in recent years, that's not exactly how things went down.
We have more recently learned that their side of the story is very different.
We have learned that they actually really struggled and Thanksgiving for them, for the Native American Indians, is a time of mourning.
(05:46):
They are very sad because they see this holiday as a time when Native American tribes were killed, when they experienced extra bad hardships.
The English colonists were not as friendly and cordial with them.
I think after the first year that they were in the now present US.
I don't know what happened there. I guess just as the years have gone on, the story has been changed because that's naturally what happens with storytelling.
(06:15):
Things just get twisted.
You just tell a certain version that you like.
Yeah, and also for the kid friendly version, we don't talk about the brutality that Native Americans really faced.
I mean, we like to be lighthearted and PG.
I think America is all about like, hey, America is great. Americans are great.
(06:37):
So that's the narrative, which I understand.
But yeah, usually in anything like with a colonial history, be it the English, be it the French, be it the Spanish.
When they went to places in the Americas or Africa, they usually weren't all that great.
So we have learned we've come a long way and America has made amends, I think.
(07:03):
I mean, do your friends in Germany know about Thanksgiving or about it as much as you did before you came here?
I don't think they know any more or any less. I mean, okay, I know more now, given the experience, the two Thanksgiving's I have spent here.
I don't know anybody, at least in our age group that has never heard about Thanksgiving in the US.
(07:26):
The idea of Thanksgiving, I mean, does exist in other countries, including Germany,
but it's more certain religious communities that have a form of Thanksgiving, like late September or early October, some weekend.
Yes, in October.
Early October in Germany, I think it's on the weekend.
And there, like the idea is literally be thankful for the season's harvest.
(07:49):
Like it's kind of, you know, a very farming kind of thing, right?
I mean, Germans know about US Thanksgiving.
I can only speak for myself growing up.
I think since the Americanization of the world is progressing further and further, but for me, I don't know,
at some point I learned about Thanksgiving through popular culture.
(08:10):
I knew that it was a family get together, that the traditional food was turkey, and that's it.
I didn't necessarily know when it is. I knew it was kind of, yeah, okay, fall,
but I can't even tell you when I first learned, you know, that it's, what's the fourth?
The fourth Thursday of November.
(08:30):
I think, honestly, within the last 10 years or so, like as far as retail, Black Friday has become a thing in Germany.
I knew about Black Friday before I even connected the dots, that Black Friday is right after Thanksgiving.
I did not know that the Thursday before Black Friday was Thanksgiving until I don't know when.
(08:51):
Now, these days, I would think, again, people that are, let's say, 10, 15 years younger than us,
they might be taught better about it.
Everyone kind of knows, yeah, Thanksgiving, turkey, and then a couple of weeks later, the whole thing again for Christmas.
What actual Thanksgiving experiences have you had?
I've only spent two Thanksgivings in the US in 2022 and 2023, so we're coming up on a third one.
(09:15):
The first one I spent at my friend's family, it was very low key,
but there was, you know, of course, there was food in abundance, a lot of foods to choose from.
The second one that was with your family, that was quite a big kind of get together.
Would you like to go into more detail about this big get together that you experienced?
(09:36):
Well, it was how many people? 60?
It was 60.
I thought like I was living in the movie, kind of like the coordination and orchestration of that
to accommodate so many people in the first place and that in that house and so many tables and so many plates.
And I was just it was insane. But it was it was very nice, especially to me, where I only knew a fraction of them.
(09:58):
It was quite an experience, but a very positive one.
Let's break down your two individual Thanksgiving experiences in more detail.
So let's talk more about the first Thanksgiving you ever had.
So what did you see? What did you eat? How did people dress?
What did people talk about? Was football on TV? All of those things.
(10:22):
So what from the first Thanksgiving with your friend?
There was many foods to choose from, both savory and sweet, very heavy, very rich, very good.
That's Thanksgiving.
Yeah, it's interesting because like when you think of American cuisine, you think of like junk food and
Oh yeah.
and maybe barbecue, but actually Thanksgiving like once a year Americans prove to the world that they can actually cook.
(10:48):
So that's a shame that it's only one day a year.
It's harsh, but I know, but it's a hot no, I agree Thanksgiving is to me was like a revelation.
Like, oh yeah, this is actually like American real food, normal, good food.
So then what were some of those foods that you remember?
You know, the turkey and the you know, the fillings and there were so many different pies and so many.
(11:14):
And then there was ham, even though I'm personally not the biggest fan of ham.
But that was just so much to choose from. I can't even list all of it, but it was just, that was just so much and it was so good.
I mean, you didn't even know, you know, what to, what to grab first, what to try first.
So in that regard, yeah, and you mentioned football.
Yes, the football was on TV and people were dressed pretty normally, like not too casual, but you know, appropriately,
(11:40):
but not on people didn't, you know, show up like in a suit or something.
And then the second Thanksgiving, the gist of it was that was pretty, pretty much the same.
You have good food, all sorts of foods.
What were the difference in the foods? I don't remember, because I remember very specifically.
I don't know if you do. I actually don't remember specifically.
I do know that there was a vast selection of food given that it was a bigger get together.
(12:05):
There was more food to.
Oh, yes. Okay. That was a Lebanese.
Okay. I guess. Yeah.
And that's in that sense, you could say maybe with us Thanksgiving.
There was a Lebanese spin, a Mediterranean spin on Thanksgiving since part of my family history or ancestry dates back to Lebanon.
And so there were Lebanese foods and Mediterranean traditional dishes that were incorporated into Thanksgiving.
(12:32):
But that's not usually the case for most people.
I guess, I mean, Americans, you know, every American has some form of family history and yeah, you might kind of give it a certain spin.
Okay, yes. Now that you mentioned it, yes, there was this Mediterranean influence, but it was still basically the same kind of concept.
It was just on a larger scale compared to, I guess it was a little bit more formal, a little bit more kind of shiny and oh, photographs here.
(12:58):
And we want to make this memorable.
Yeah, we were definitely dressed up.
Yeah, we were dressed up more.
Like I always knew Thanksgiving because of the Lebanese side of my family.
Yeah. I don't know if this is the same for every sort of family or Mediterranean family, but we tend to be a little bit more on the flashy side.
So it's all about the way you're dressed.
(13:19):
It's all about the way you present yourself physically.
In that case, I remember Thanksgiving and even Christmas, which we'll get to that in a future episode.
I always remember dressing up very nicely, not in casual clothes, not in jeans, always wearing a dress, always wearing stockings or leggings, always looking nice.
(13:40):
That was the big thing with Thanksgiving.
Every family is different.
Every family is different.
It's a big country.
So many families, they all, or most of them, I would assume, celebrate Thanksgiving in one shape or form.
Comparing those two experiences I've had, they were essentially the same.
The idea was the same.
There's food.
(14:01):
There is just appreciation for what you have and the people around you and the love and health and whatnot.
Even, you know, in spite of the questionable past.
History.
The idea today is a very noble one.
Well, now what about some foods that you possibly did not enjoy or things that didn't look good?
(14:24):
Like, I know that there were so many good foods during your Thanksgiving.
I honestly don't know.
I mean, everything looked good.
Everything was prepared really well.
Everyone has different preferences or maybe allergies, like in your case, too, with peanuts.
Yeah, I can't have nuts.
But there was something good for everybody.
(14:47):
There was so much.
I didn't write it down.
I know that I personally am not a huge fan of...
I don't like gravy that much.
I don't like gravy.
I don't like stuffing.
Those are really huge parts of Thanksgiving dinner.
And I don't like them that much.
Gravy can mean a lot of things.
There are many different kinds of gravy.
(15:09):
Well, we're talking about the traditional brown gravy.
I don't know the actual ingredients and components of that.
I actually do like a little bit of it, but definitely stuffing, which consists of, to be honest,
I can't tell you what it consists of, but it's not good.
If you eat turkey, it needs some kind of sauce on it because it's usually a pretty dry...
(15:33):
It is very, very bland and very dry.
I mean, you can't see me now, but I am looking up what is stuffing or what is inside of stuffing.
This is so bad.
I have never made stuffing in my life.
I think you can tell.
Now everyone can, yeah.
Stuffing is...
But hey, same here.
Oh, so stuffing.
(15:54):
What is this?
So cut up bread, let's say, herbs, starch, and ew, I don't know what this is,
but I am definitely personally not a fan.
I don't know.
People love to stuff their turkey with this stuff.
I guess some stuffing can have garlic and good stuff,
but I personally just...
(16:15):
I don't know how you feel about that.
I mean, it's very rich.
I mean, it's very filling.
I mean, the problem with Thanksgiving is that you get full very easily and very quickly.
Now on the stuffings, I think different families have different recipes.
Yes, that's definitely the case.
It's like the sacred recipe of grandma or something.
So I don't think you can make any generalizations there.
(16:37):
There might be a family out there that makes...
Amazing stuffing.
That makes amazing stuffing and amazing gravy, and you're like,
oh my God, what have I done the past 29 years?
I'm sure that there is.
I'm not saying that there is not,
but just based on my personal experience up to now,
some of my favorite foods at Thanksgiving include pumpkin pie,
(16:58):
which is not in Europe that I know of really.
I don't think that's a very American type of dessert.
Yeah, pumpkin pie.
You don't have that.
It's very American.
Have you tasted?
I think so, yes.
But...
Did you like it?
That's the question.
I think it's an acquired taste.
I don't think so.
I love it.
Oh, it's my favorite.
I love it with whipped cream especially.
(17:20):
Yummy.
I mean, it's good, but yeah, it's definitely an American thing.
I don't know if in Germany, if there is an equivalent to pumpkin pie.
I know that it's an acquired taste again.
Actually, it's very sweet.
I don't know what there is to acquire.
It's not like marmite, like from, is that Britain or is that Australia?
I think that's Australia.
Australia.
(17:41):
No, marmite.
Isn't this like a spread or something?
Yes.
Vegemite, this is so not about Thanksgiving,
but marmite, if you've never had it from Britain, yuck.
That is an acquired taste.
That is disgusting.
It is.
Well, people fought for independence so that you don't have to put up with marmite.
Yeah, that's true.
So, but yuck.
(18:02):
I don't recommend that.
So that's not this is not a Thanksgiving food.
I just wanted to mention the comparison.
You just really wanted to make a point that you don't like marmite.
Yeah.
Yes, I did.
Yeah.
Another very popular dish that many families here in the US love on
Thanksgiving is sweet potato casserole with not burnt marshmallows,
(18:25):
but basically some sort of marshmallow top.
It is so delicious.
I don't know if you have ever had that.
It's a very, very, very popular dish.
I'm pretty positive.
I'm pretty positive.
I've had sweet potato casserole, but I'm not sure about the marshmallow part,
to be honest with you.
Some people put marshmallows on top.
Others don't.
(18:47):
I just remember in the past having this sweet potato casserole and somebody used
to take marshmallows and have like a lighter or something and burn.
By the way, speaking of marshmallows, not exclusively pertaining to Thanksgiving
marshmallows, that's also a very American thing.
I knew it.
Yeah.
I didn't think of that, actually.
(19:09):
Is it?
Oh, yes, actually.
I can't speak.
I'm not sure about England if they have it there, but I don't think in
continental Europe, marshmallows are not a thing, at least traditionally not.
Now, these days, of course, right?
You can get it and there's probably a fan base for it, but it's not a traditional.
It's not a traditional European food and it's not very healthy either.
(19:33):
I know that there is no equivalent to Thanksgiving exactly in Germany,
but let's say you have a very big feast and at this feast, you want to have some
special desserts, some special pies, special foods, special dishes.
So what would you say?
I don't know if you can think of this.
That's a hard one.
Yeah.
(19:54):
Maybe just some very, let's say, stereotypical German dishes that you can
find at a very big feast.
You know, it depends what kind of family you're in.
Different families like different things or have different traditions,
you know, amongst themselves, have different family recipes.
Now, when I think of especially desserts, like when it comes to pie,
honestly, we eat pie all year.
(20:16):
Having pie in the afternoon, like, you know, three, four o'clock,
that is very popular and there are, I don't know what is there.
There's like plum pie and there's apple pie and there's Bienenstisch,
literally bee sting.
I have no clue why it's called that.
It has a cream layer and then on top it is almonds, kind of caramelized almonds on top.
(20:39):
I mean, I'm only there to eat. I don't bake.
I know, we're always always only there to eat.
I don't bake or cook. I'm really bad about it.
I don't question it. It's good. I just eat it.
The thing is, I don't think of pie as a dessert.
To me, that's like a separate meal.
Like between lunch and dinner, you might have coffee and or tea and pie
(21:00):
or cake for that matter.
As far as like feasts, as far as like the main dish, main course,
different kinds of poultry, for example.
Some people eat turkey. Some people eat like for Christmas.
We will touch on that.
Yeah, Christmas is coming.
Eat goose. Can be very diverse.
So I think that really depends on the family.
What about Black Friday?
(21:23):
So Black Friday, I think you mentioned earlier to me,
is a concept that has just only recently, fairly recently anyway,
come to Germany and come to Europe.
What is Black Friday like in Europe?
And what do you think about Black Friday and the concept of Black Friday in Germany?
Well, the concept of Black Friday in Germany these days is the exact same as in the US,
(21:46):
which it's a big retail racket.
There are many like bargains that are not really bargains,
but they advertise them as bargains.
I could imagine that's at least the first how I first learned about Black Friday in Germany
that Amazon brought this to Germany.
Didn't know that.
I think the first time I consciously noticed Black Friday in Germany advertised,
(22:10):
I think was through Amazon.
And now like everyone has kind of jumped on it, I think.
But again, when I learned about, okay, Black Friday is the start of the Christmas shopping season.
But at the time I did not know, I was just not aware and didn't think about
that it was immediately the Friday after Thanksgiving.
Yeah, that has been a tradition for many years.
(22:32):
Yeah, yeah. So it's a very commercialized thing.
Do you like Black Friday? I mean, you just said it was a racket.
But what are your opinions on Black Friday?
I mean, as far as online shopping, if you can actually get something for a good price, I like it.
But what I would not like and what I've never done,
especially when it comes to like actually going to a store, going to a mall,
(22:55):
you know, be in the middle of basically a stampede of people treading over each other
to storm a heavily discounted flat screen TV.
Yeah, I want to buy it. Yeah, a TV or whatever. No.
I actually wasn't expecting you to say that.
I was expecting you to say something else, which I have never done this,
(23:15):
but many Americans have done.
Well, enlighten me. What were you expecting?
I was expecting you to say...
This is not scripted, as you can see.
No, it's not. It's not. I don't know about Germany.
I don't know about Europe.
But I know that for many years here in the US,
there are people who immediately after Thanksgiving, after Thanksgiving dinner,
even will go to Macy's, will go to a very huge department store,
(23:40):
literally take a tent and camp out all night long just to be the very first customers in the store to buy it.
I thought you were going to say that.
No, I mean, I've never done that either.
Look, craziness knows no borders or knows no nationalities.
There are certainly people that would do such a thing.
(24:02):
There are people that do that when...
I mean, there are hardcore fans of all sorts of things.
There might be, you know, somebody might release a certain book
and some people want one of the first copies.
Yes, they want...
Or a certain clothing item or a certain new TV or, I don't know, like PlayStation, whatever.
(24:24):
There are definitely people that camp in front of a store.
Yes, that does exist in Germany.
Oh, wow. I did not know that.
But as far as Black Friday,
just for the sake of like the general kind of, you know, day of bargain, day of bargains,
I personally don't know anybody.
That doesn't mean that people don't do it.
Oh, no. Well, I'm not sure about in recent years with Amazon and the Internet,
(24:48):
but I do know that as a kid, I remember even seeing that on TV,
like seeing the lines literally being broadcast.
I mean, the thing is...
Like, what the hell are you doing?
The thing is, in Germany, you have to remember,
since there is no Thanksgiving,
this whole week is a totally regular work week.
So people are working Thursday and also Friday.
So you would have to be like a real hardcore fan or unemployed.
(25:13):
Which that exists too.
That exists too, to even have the time to do that,
because it's a regular week.
The only thing as far as Christmas shopping that can be special,
but that also depends on like regionally,
I think every city does its own thing there.
During Christmas season or shopping season,
(25:34):
some stores or some cities might open their stores on Sundays,
because usually in Germany, Sundays, pretty much everything is closed,
except for like gas stations and...
Yeah, no, really.
Oh, I know. I remember.
But Black Friday is not as crazy, I would think.
In a way, I think that that's a good thing.
(25:56):
I don't mean like that.
The thing is, look, we have...
You know, the world has become more and more online based.
Yeah.
Is it still this bad that people just flock to like Macy's and,
I don't know, Best Buy or whatever?
Or is it just online these days?
Because people are lazy.
You can just order online.
Well, that's what I was just talking about.
(26:18):
I think that in recent years,
I don't know if there has been less of that because of the internet,
but I would say you definitely still have a lot of those people.
You have people who prefer to see things in person.
They prefer to get the in-person deals.
Maybe there's something not advertised online.
So they want to literally make sure
(26:39):
that they're not missing the biggest deal
and they still go in person to find those deals.
That's what I think.
The quantity of people who are doing that...
That's strong.
Yes, but definitely I don't think that that itself would ever completely go away.
Yeah, well, I will say this.
I mean, America is doing a fantastic job when it comes to marketing things.
(27:06):
As a result, the average American easily falls victim to marketing and advertising.
Unfortunately, yes.
I'm not surprised that people just lose their cookies over Black Friday.
There are people who kill each other.
I think literally that has been on the news too.
People are crazy.
With that alone, I would not expose myself to that.
(27:29):
I wouldn't either.
No, it's nothing really special.
It really isn't.
You can plan so much better in advance.
If anything, I feel bad for the people that work in retail on Black Friday.
Because most Americans working non-retail jobs are off.
And they have the very thankless task to endure a bunch of just crazy shoppers.
(27:54):
Now, one of the last things that we'll touch upon in terms of questions
and in terms of this Thanksgiving themed episode,
what are some things, Marco, that you are thankful for?
It sounds like a question that you would be asked in school,
like elementary school, primary school.
But speaking objectively, in your adult life, what are you thankful for?
(28:20):
I mean, for one thing, it shouldn't take a certain day
of the year to be thankful.
I think you should always appreciate.
Even on days when you're maybe not in the best mood,
you should still just remind yourself
that you're living a very good life
compared to maybe other parts of the world.
So what I'm thankful for is, first and foremost, health.
(28:41):
Health is wealth.
That is absolutely true.
And so you need to really be thankful.
Health comes first.
Everything else comes after that.
So yeah, health.
The things I have, the things I have accomplished.
The people around me, particularly you, these days, right?
I love that, yeah.
The freedom, you know, I am, or we are, both of us,
(29:04):
are very fortunate to live in a society
where we can, to an extent, kind of do whatever we want
and we can travel and we have the means to do that.
So yeah, that's something to be thankful for.
How about you?
Is it, I'm not sure if it's bad that I didn't think of this answer
super in advance, so I'm being spontaneous
(29:26):
and I'm answering it on the spot.
So am I.
I didn't prepare for that either.
I know you did.
Yeah, but that's part of the fun in this.
So yes, I will piggyback on Marco and say, yes,
I'm very, of course, thankful for the people in my life
and especially Marco.
For those of you who listened to the previous episode on dating,
(29:47):
you know that I had a little spiel on Marco
and how Marco is quite different
than other people I have dated in the past.
I have yet to listen to that.
Yes, Marco does listen to parts of these podcasts,
but he still has yet to listen to that one.
I did not say bad things about you.
You, I think, will be very enlightened.
(30:09):
But anyway, I'm getting off track.
I'm thankful for Marco.
I'm thankful for our friends.
I am also thankful to essentially through Marco
have other friends in Germany,
some very good quality, wonderful friends
who are far from us,
but who I really see are excellent people in this world.
Not everybody has good friends.
(30:31):
Yeah, that's a very good point.
Yeah, that's a very good point.
So just the friends, you know, the friends,
or the worlds that we opened each other up.
And also, you know, okay, it's just work,
but even my workplace, you know,
I have a job where I'm respected
and a job that ultimately enabled me to come here.
I mean, perfection doesn't exist nowhere in life.
(30:51):
No, but I think, yeah, the people around you.
So, yeah, friends and family,
and also, you know, including good colleagues.
Yes, friends, family, good colleagues.
I have a very wonderful boss.
I actually really, really do like my boss.
Some people have shit bosses,
really horrible people, so thankless.
I mean, no, I don't, so I don't have that.
(31:13):
I'm very fortunate to have housing, thanks to you,
but anyway, it's not a good thing to say.
You make it sound like,
you make it sound like a picture from the street.
No, Mary Grace was not homeless prior to meeting me.
I was not homeless.
Fake news, everybody.
No.
Yeah, I was not, no, I was not homeless,
but I'm extremely fortunate to have the economic
(31:36):
and financial teamwork with Marco.
Let's put it that way.
Yeah.
I'm very fortunate for, yes, good health, that's important.
I'm fortunate and happy and thankful for many things.
I'm thankful to travel.
I'm thankful to have the opportunity
to go places whenever we can.
I'm very thankful for all of my travel experiences
(31:59):
and opportunities that I've had up to this point
of 29 years old and hopefully more, much more beyond.
And what else?
I'm thankful to have this eternal link to Europe
through Marco.
I've mentioned Marco a lot in my gratitude here,
but I mean it really objectively.
I mean, I'm very fortunate that I've linked
both Europe and the US to my world.
(32:23):
Another thing to be thankful for is we live
in a modern world these days where
you can just run a podcast.
Exactly, and that too.
That's another really huge thing.
I am so thankful for starting this podcast.
I'm thankful for those of you who really listen every week,
those of you who share your thoughts,
(32:44):
your feedback, your experiences, your very kind words
and immense support.
I really couldn't ask for more than that
because this was just an idea that I spontaneously
thought of one day and I made it happen much sooner
than I realized and that's all.
I just really am so thankful.
So is there anything else you would like to add
(33:06):
to our gratitude list?
Happy Thanksgiving everybody.
It's great to be able to be here and have
this conversation with you or these conversations
as we go along about all sorts of fun topics.
Last thing that I will mention
and then I will really close off this episode,
I'm really thankful that Marco has grown
to really like being on the podcast.
I don't think he ever imagined that he would like doing this.
(33:30):
Yeah, I mean look, it's not like I'm
going to be doing this.
I mean look, it's safe to say,
if it hadn't been for you, I would have never
even thought about recording myself.
Like, no.
And Marco gets the easy end of the deal.
He doesn't do the editing, he doesn't have to do anything else,
he doesn't really do much prep.
He just sits here and talks.
(33:51):
Just sitting here and talking, you know.
And that's okay.
I mean, I was the one who started this.
I do all the editing, I do all of the,
all of my solo cast that you hear,
I'm so scripting for that, all of the editing that we...
And I'm just a lazy smart ass.
Yeah, but it's okay, but I'm thankful for all of that too.
We have, anyway, to say the least,
(34:12):
we have a long list of things to be thankful for.
Happy Thanksgiving!
Happy Thanksgiving!
This now wraps up today's episode on Thanksgiving.
We hope that you enjoyed and you really took
something new or interesting away from what you heard today.
If you have any questions or you have any specific things
(34:32):
you'd like to hear on the podcast,
just let me know on Instagram at either my host account
at Mary Grace Crawford or on the podcast account
at OnceUponATrip.pc.
We do wish you a very wonderful Thanksgiving
if you're here in the U.S.
And if you're not in the U.S.,
we wish you a nice remainder of this year
(34:55):
with all of the gratitude that you can foster
and have in your life and your situation.
Thank you really so much for tuning in
and for taking a deeper dive into Thanksgiving
and perspectives with Marco and me.
I really look forward to another fun
and adventurous trip of an episode next Tuesday
(35:18):
right here on the podcast.
I hope you have a really great week.
I'll see you next week.
Welcome to the Once Upon a Trip podcast, where we dive deep into sharing everything crazy travel stories, dating adventures, culture fusions, and plenty of takeaways to entertain and feed your inner curiosity and travel bug.
(00:15):
I'm your host, Mary Grace Crawford, travel enthusiast, content creator, ex-digital nomad, avid storyteller, and lover of all things Europe, based now in Atlanta, Georgia.
This is going to be another short intro that I did not script or plan because I didn't have time to plan.
(00:40):
One of the reasons why I wasn't really able to script what I wanted to script for this specific week is because Marco and I just got back from a wedding of my cousins in Nashville, Tennessee.
It was really, really fun.
But going to events like this means that you don't have as much time to do what you normally would be doing.
(01:01):
And I think if you're very busy or if you just have different events happening in your life, you know exactly what I'm talking about.
But anyway, I'm so happy you're tuned in once again this week for another really fun and cool episode, especially this week, because this is a holiday themed episode.
(01:21):
This week is a holiday week here in the U.S.
This upcoming Thursday, the 28th of November is Thanksgiving Day.
And this is one of our really biggest holidays of the entire year.
I really just thought it would be fun to bring an external source slash non-American into the idea of talking about Thanksgiving.
(01:44):
It really gives us Americans some different perspective on what foreigners think of Thanksgiving and what they know and what they expect and all of the fun stuff that comes along with learning and hearing a different perspective.
So that is exactly what we are doing today.
I'm bringing in Marco again on this episode to share his perspectives, his knowledge, his expectations and his own experiences here in America when it comes to Thanksgiving and the entire experience as a whole.
(02:18):
I'm going to go ahead and keep this little intro overview short and sweet.
Let's go ahead and jump into the episode with Marco and hear about his thoughts, etc, etc, etc.
When it comes to Thanksgiving, we hope you enjoy.
We are rolling officially again with Marco. Would you like to say hello to everyone, Marco?
(02:41):
Hello again.
Well, I think we're talking about Thanksgiving today.
Yeah, we are talking about Thanksgiving.
I felt very inspired to record a Thanksgiving episode because while we have a German involved and I think that makes things all the more interesting.
So I'm going to go ahead and start this off by asking Marco what he thinks of Thanksgiving and just his thoughts in general on the holiday.
(03:06):
I mean, it is a nice holiday.
I mean, for one thing, you don't have to work.
So that's always nice.
It's a holiday where you get together with family and just you spend quality time together.
It is interesting to me from my foreign perspective because we do not have an equivalent really to the American Thanksgiving.
(03:27):
It's a nice part of US culture, I think.
Do you know a little bit of the American history of Thanksgiving?
Well, the US Thanksgiving? Well, very, very little.
I think the first kind of exposure, like serious exposure to it, and this is really, really bad to name this as a source of education, would be South Park.
(03:49):
There was years back, there was an episode where they're, you know, with the pilgrims and, you know, so it has something to do with British colonial settlement and Native Americans.
That's kind of, but yeah, maybe you can elaborate a little bit more on that because I really don't know enough.
Well, what I can say briefly about the history of Thanksgiving, there are two versions to this story.
(04:15):
There's a real brutal, sad version, but that's not the type of story we learned in school, in American schools.
Of course not.
No, it's not.
We learn basically that the pilgrims were a group of people from England who separated from the Church of England and wanted a new start in the New World.
(04:37):
And that originally was going to be New York City, but when they boarded the Mayflower, so the boat from England where they sailed, the boat didn't land in New York City.
It actually went off course because of the wind and it instead landed in Massachusetts.
So I believe it was Cape Cod, Massachusetts.
(04:59):
It was in the year 1620 and we base our Thanksgiving on the very first known feast of 1621.
The happy version of this story that we learn as kids is basically the English colonists and the Native American Indians have a feast, like a happy feast together and they help each other survive the cold winter ahead.
(05:24):
But as we have learned from Native American tribes in recent years, that's not exactly how things went down.
We have more recently learned that their side of the story is very different.
We have learned that they actually really struggled and Thanksgiving for them, for the Native American Indians, is a time of mourning.
(05:46):
They are very sad because they see this holiday as a time when Native American tribes were killed, when they experienced extra bad hardships.
The English colonists were not as friendly and cordial with them.
I think after the first year that they were in the now present US.
I don't know what happened there. I guess just as the years have gone on, the story has been changed because that's naturally what happens with storytelling.
(06:15):
Things just get twisted.
You just tell a certain version that you like.
Yeah, and also for the kid friendly version, we don't talk about the brutality that Native Americans really faced.
I mean, we like to be lighthearted and PG.
I think America is all about like, hey, America is great. Americans are great.
(06:37):
So that's the narrative, which I understand.
But yeah, usually in anything like with a colonial history, be it the English, be it the French, be it the Spanish.
When they went to places in the Americas or Africa, they usually weren't all that great.
So we have learned we've come a long way and America has made amends, I think.
(07:03):
I mean, do your friends in Germany know about Thanksgiving or about it as much as you did before you came here?
I don't think they know any more or any less. I mean, okay, I know more now, given the experience, the two Thanksgiving's I have spent here.
I don't know anybody, at least in our age group that has never heard about Thanksgiving in the US.
(07:26):
The idea of Thanksgiving, I mean, does exist in other countries, including Germany,
but it's more certain religious communities that have a form of Thanksgiving, like late September or early October, some weekend.
Yes, in October.
Early October in Germany, I think it's on the weekend.
And there, like the idea is literally be thankful for the season's harvest.
(07:49):
Like it's kind of, you know, a very farming kind of thing, right?
I mean, Germans know about US Thanksgiving.
I can only speak for myself growing up.
I think since the Americanization of the world is progressing further and further, but for me, I don't know,
at some point I learned about Thanksgiving through popular culture.
(08:10):
I knew that it was a family get together, that the traditional food was turkey, and that's it.
I didn't necessarily know when it is. I knew it was kind of, yeah, okay, fall,
but I can't even tell you when I first learned, you know, that it's, what's the fourth?
The fourth Thursday of November.
(08:30):
I think, honestly, within the last 10 years or so, like as far as retail, Black Friday has become a thing in Germany.
I knew about Black Friday before I even connected the dots, that Black Friday is right after Thanksgiving.
I did not know that the Thursday before Black Friday was Thanksgiving until I don't know when.
(08:51):
Now, these days, I would think, again, people that are, let's say, 10, 15 years younger than us,
they might be taught better about it.
Everyone kind of knows, yeah, Thanksgiving, turkey, and then a couple of weeks later, the whole thing again for Christmas.
What actual Thanksgiving experiences have you had?
I've only spent two Thanksgivings in the US in 2022 and 2023, so we're coming up on a third one.
(09:15):
The first one I spent at my friend's family, it was very low key,
but there was, you know, of course, there was food in abundance, a lot of foods to choose from.
The second one that was with your family, that was quite a big kind of get together.
Would you like to go into more detail about this big get together that you experienced?
(09:36):
Well, it was how many people? 60?
It was 60.
I thought like I was living in the movie, kind of like the coordination and orchestration of that
to accommodate so many people in the first place and that in that house and so many tables and so many plates.
And I was just it was insane. But it was it was very nice, especially to me, where I only knew a fraction of them.
(09:58):
It was quite an experience, but a very positive one.
Let's break down your two individual Thanksgiving experiences in more detail.
So let's talk more about the first Thanksgiving you ever had.
So what did you see? What did you eat? How did people dress?
What did people talk about? Was football on TV? All of those things.
(10:22):
So what from the first Thanksgiving with your friend?
There was many foods to choose from, both savory and sweet, very heavy, very rich, very good.
That's Thanksgiving.
Yeah, it's interesting because like when you think of American cuisine, you think of like junk food and
Oh yeah.
and maybe barbecue, but actually Thanksgiving like once a year Americans prove to the world that they can actually cook.
(10:48):
So that's a shame that it's only one day a year.
It's harsh, but I know, but it's a hot no, I agree Thanksgiving is to me was like a revelation.
Like, oh yeah, this is actually like American real food, normal, good food.
So then what were some of those foods that you remember?
You know, the turkey and the you know, the fillings and there were so many different pies and so many.
(11:14):
And then there was ham, even though I'm personally not the biggest fan of ham.
But that was just so much to choose from. I can't even list all of it, but it was just, that was just so much and it was so good.
I mean, you didn't even know, you know, what to, what to grab first, what to try first.
So in that regard, yeah, and you mentioned football.
Yes, the football was on TV and people were dressed pretty normally, like not too casual, but you know, appropriately,
(11:40):
but not on people didn't, you know, show up like in a suit or something.
And then the second Thanksgiving, the gist of it was that was pretty, pretty much the same.
You have good food, all sorts of foods.
What were the difference in the foods? I don't remember, because I remember very specifically.
I don't know if you do. I actually don't remember specifically.
I do know that there was a vast selection of food given that it was a bigger get together.
(12:05):
There was more food to.
Oh, yes. Okay. That was a Lebanese.
Okay. I guess. Yeah.
And that's in that sense, you could say maybe with us Thanksgiving.
There was a Lebanese spin, a Mediterranean spin on Thanksgiving since part of my family history or ancestry dates back to Lebanon.
And so there were Lebanese foods and Mediterranean traditional dishes that were incorporated into Thanksgiving.
(12:32):
But that's not usually the case for most people.
I guess, I mean, Americans, you know, every American has some form of family history and yeah, you might kind of give it a certain spin.
Okay, yes. Now that you mentioned it, yes, there was this Mediterranean influence, but it was still basically the same kind of concept.
It was just on a larger scale compared to, I guess it was a little bit more formal, a little bit more kind of shiny and oh, photographs here.
(12:58):
And we want to make this memorable.
Yeah, we were definitely dressed up.
Yeah, we were dressed up more.
Like I always knew Thanksgiving because of the Lebanese side of my family.
Yeah. I don't know if this is the same for every sort of family or Mediterranean family, but we tend to be a little bit more on the flashy side.
So it's all about the way you're dressed.
(13:19):
It's all about the way you present yourself physically.
In that case, I remember Thanksgiving and even Christmas, which we'll get to that in a future episode.
I always remember dressing up very nicely, not in casual clothes, not in jeans, always wearing a dress, always wearing stockings or leggings, always looking nice.
(13:40):
That was the big thing with Thanksgiving.
Every family is different.
Every family is different.
It's a big country.
So many families, they all, or most of them, I would assume, celebrate Thanksgiving in one shape or form.
Comparing those two experiences I've had, they were essentially the same.
The idea was the same.
There's food.
(14:01):
There is just appreciation for what you have and the people around you and the love and health and whatnot.
Even, you know, in spite of the questionable past.
History.
The idea today is a very noble one.
Well, now what about some foods that you possibly did not enjoy or things that didn't look good?
(14:24):
Like, I know that there were so many good foods during your Thanksgiving.
I honestly don't know.
I mean, everything looked good.
Everything was prepared really well.
Everyone has different preferences or maybe allergies, like in your case, too, with peanuts.
Yeah, I can't have nuts.
But there was something good for everybody.
(14:47):
There was so much.
I didn't write it down.
I know that I personally am not a huge fan of...
I don't like gravy that much.
I don't like gravy.
I don't like stuffing.
Those are really huge parts of Thanksgiving dinner.
And I don't like them that much.
Gravy can mean a lot of things.
There are many different kinds of gravy.
(15:09):
Well, we're talking about the traditional brown gravy.
I don't know the actual ingredients and components of that.
I actually do like a little bit of it, but definitely stuffing, which consists of, to be honest,
I can't tell you what it consists of, but it's not good.
If you eat turkey, it needs some kind of sauce on it because it's usually a pretty dry...
(15:33):
It is very, very bland and very dry.
I mean, you can't see me now, but I am looking up what is stuffing or what is inside of stuffing.
This is so bad.
I have never made stuffing in my life.
I think you can tell.
Now everyone can, yeah.
Stuffing is...
But hey, same here.
Oh, so stuffing.
(15:54):
What is this?
So cut up bread, let's say, herbs, starch, and ew, I don't know what this is,
but I am definitely personally not a fan.
I don't know.
People love to stuff their turkey with this stuff.
I guess some stuffing can have garlic and good stuff,
but I personally just...
(16:15):
I don't know how you feel about that.
I mean, it's very rich.
I mean, it's very filling.
I mean, the problem with Thanksgiving is that you get full very easily and very quickly.
Now on the stuffings, I think different families have different recipes.
Yes, that's definitely the case.
It's like the sacred recipe of grandma or something.
So I don't think you can make any generalizations there.
(16:37):
There might be a family out there that makes...
Amazing stuffing.
That makes amazing stuffing and amazing gravy, and you're like,
oh my God, what have I done the past 29 years?
I'm sure that there is.
I'm not saying that there is not,
but just based on my personal experience up to now,
some of my favorite foods at Thanksgiving include pumpkin pie,
(16:58):
which is not in Europe that I know of really.
I don't think that's a very American type of dessert.
Yeah, pumpkin pie.
You don't have that.
It's very American.
Have you tasted?
I think so, yes.
But...
Did you like it?
That's the question.
I think it's an acquired taste.
I don't think so.
I love it.
Oh, it's my favorite.
I love it with whipped cream especially.
(17:20):
Yummy.
I mean, it's good, but yeah, it's definitely an American thing.
I don't know if in Germany, if there is an equivalent to pumpkin pie.
I know that it's an acquired taste again.
Actually, it's very sweet.
I don't know what there is to acquire.
It's not like marmite, like from, is that Britain or is that Australia?
I think that's Australia.
Australia.
(17:41):
No, marmite.
Isn't this like a spread or something?
Yes.
Vegemite, this is so not about Thanksgiving,
but marmite, if you've never had it from Britain, yuck.
That is an acquired taste.
That is disgusting.
It is.
Well, people fought for independence so that you don't have to put up with marmite.
Yeah, that's true.
So, but yuck.
(18:02):
I don't recommend that.
So that's not this is not a Thanksgiving food.
I just wanted to mention the comparison.
You just really wanted to make a point that you don't like marmite.
Yeah.
Yes, I did.
Yeah.
Another very popular dish that many families here in the US love on
Thanksgiving is sweet potato casserole with not burnt marshmallows,
(18:25):
but basically some sort of marshmallow top.
It is so delicious.
I don't know if you have ever had that.
It's a very, very, very popular dish.
I'm pretty positive.
I'm pretty positive.
I've had sweet potato casserole, but I'm not sure about the marshmallow part,
to be honest with you.
Some people put marshmallows on top.
Others don't.
(18:47):
I just remember in the past having this sweet potato casserole and somebody used
to take marshmallows and have like a lighter or something and burn.
By the way, speaking of marshmallows, not exclusively pertaining to Thanksgiving
marshmallows, that's also a very American thing.
I knew it.
Yeah.
I didn't think of that, actually.
(19:09):
Is it?
Oh, yes, actually.
I can't speak.
I'm not sure about England if they have it there, but I don't think in
continental Europe, marshmallows are not a thing, at least traditionally not.
Now, these days, of course, right?
You can get it and there's probably a fan base for it, but it's not a traditional.
It's not a traditional European food and it's not very healthy either.
(19:33):
I know that there is no equivalent to Thanksgiving exactly in Germany,
but let's say you have a very big feast and at this feast, you want to have some
special desserts, some special pies, special foods, special dishes.
So what would you say?
I don't know if you can think of this.
That's a hard one.
Yeah.
(19:54):
Maybe just some very, let's say, stereotypical German dishes that you can
find at a very big feast.
You know, it depends what kind of family you're in.
Different families like different things or have different traditions,
you know, amongst themselves, have different family recipes.
Now, when I think of especially desserts, like when it comes to pie,
honestly, we eat pie all year.
(20:16):
Having pie in the afternoon, like, you know, three, four o'clock,
that is very popular and there are, I don't know what is there.
There's like plum pie and there's apple pie and there's Bienenstisch,
literally bee sting.
I have no clue why it's called that.
It has a cream layer and then on top it is almonds, kind of caramelized almonds on top.
(20:39):
I mean, I'm only there to eat. I don't bake.
I know, we're always always only there to eat.
I don't bake or cook. I'm really bad about it.
I don't question it. It's good. I just eat it.
The thing is, I don't think of pie as a dessert.
To me, that's like a separate meal.
Like between lunch and dinner, you might have coffee and or tea and pie
(21:00):
or cake for that matter.
As far as like feasts, as far as like the main dish, main course,
different kinds of poultry, for example.
Some people eat turkey. Some people eat like for Christmas.
We will touch on that.
Yeah, Christmas is coming.
Eat goose. Can be very diverse.
So I think that really depends on the family.
What about Black Friday?
(21:23):
So Black Friday, I think you mentioned earlier to me,
is a concept that has just only recently, fairly recently anyway,
come to Germany and come to Europe.
What is Black Friday like in Europe?
And what do you think about Black Friday and the concept of Black Friday in Germany?
Well, the concept of Black Friday in Germany these days is the exact same as in the US,
(21:46):
which it's a big retail racket.
There are many like bargains that are not really bargains,
but they advertise them as bargains.
I could imagine that's at least the first how I first learned about Black Friday in Germany
that Amazon brought this to Germany.
Didn't know that.
I think the first time I consciously noticed Black Friday in Germany advertised,
(22:10):
I think was through Amazon.
And now like everyone has kind of jumped on it, I think.
But again, when I learned about, okay, Black Friday is the start of the Christmas shopping season.
But at the time I did not know, I was just not aware and didn't think about
that it was immediately the Friday after Thanksgiving.
Yeah, that has been a tradition for many years.
(22:32):
Yeah, yeah. So it's a very commercialized thing.
Do you like Black Friday? I mean, you just said it was a racket.
But what are your opinions on Black Friday?
I mean, as far as online shopping, if you can actually get something for a good price, I like it.
But what I would not like and what I've never done,
especially when it comes to like actually going to a store, going to a mall,
(22:55):
you know, be in the middle of basically a stampede of people treading over each other
to storm a heavily discounted flat screen TV.
Yeah, I want to buy it. Yeah, a TV or whatever. No.
I actually wasn't expecting you to say that.
I was expecting you to say something else, which I have never done this,
(23:15):
but many Americans have done.
Well, enlighten me. What were you expecting?
I was expecting you to say...
This is not scripted, as you can see.
No, it's not. It's not. I don't know about Germany.
I don't know about Europe.
But I know that for many years here in the US,
there are people who immediately after Thanksgiving, after Thanksgiving dinner,
even will go to Macy's, will go to a very huge department store,
(23:40):
literally take a tent and camp out all night long just to be the very first customers in the store to buy it.
I thought you were going to say that.
No, I mean, I've never done that either.
Look, craziness knows no borders or knows no nationalities.
There are certainly people that would do such a thing.
(24:02):
There are people that do that when...
I mean, there are hardcore fans of all sorts of things.
There might be, you know, somebody might release a certain book
and some people want one of the first copies.
Yes, they want...
Or a certain clothing item or a certain new TV or, I don't know, like PlayStation, whatever.
(24:24):
There are definitely people that camp in front of a store.
Yes, that does exist in Germany.
Oh, wow. I did not know that.
But as far as Black Friday,
just for the sake of like the general kind of, you know, day of bargain, day of bargains,
I personally don't know anybody.
That doesn't mean that people don't do it.
Oh, no. Well, I'm not sure about in recent years with Amazon and the Internet,
(24:48):
but I do know that as a kid, I remember even seeing that on TV,
like seeing the lines literally being broadcast.
I mean, the thing is...
Like, what the hell are you doing?
The thing is, in Germany, you have to remember,
since there is no Thanksgiving,
this whole week is a totally regular work week.
So people are working Thursday and also Friday.
So you would have to be like a real hardcore fan or unemployed.
(25:13):
Which that exists too.
That exists too, to even have the time to do that,
because it's a regular week.
The only thing as far as Christmas shopping that can be special,
but that also depends on like regionally,
I think every city does its own thing there.
During Christmas season or shopping season,
(25:34):
some stores or some cities might open their stores on Sundays,
because usually in Germany, Sundays, pretty much everything is closed,
except for like gas stations and...
Yeah, no, really.
Oh, I know. I remember.
But Black Friday is not as crazy, I would think.
In a way, I think that that's a good thing.
(25:56):
I don't mean like that.
The thing is, look, we have...
You know, the world has become more and more online based.
Yeah.
Is it still this bad that people just flock to like Macy's and,
I don't know, Best Buy or whatever?
Or is it just online these days?
Because people are lazy.
You can just order online.
Well, that's what I was just talking about.
(26:18):
I think that in recent years,
I don't know if there has been less of that because of the internet,
but I would say you definitely still have a lot of those people.
You have people who prefer to see things in person.
They prefer to get the in-person deals.
Maybe there's something not advertised online.
So they want to literally make sure
(26:39):
that they're not missing the biggest deal
and they still go in person to find those deals.
That's what I think.
The quantity of people who are doing that...
That's strong.
Yes, but definitely I don't think that that itself would ever completely go away.
Yeah, well, I will say this.
I mean, America is doing a fantastic job when it comes to marketing things.
(27:06):
As a result, the average American easily falls victim to marketing and advertising.
Unfortunately, yes.
I'm not surprised that people just lose their cookies over Black Friday.
There are people who kill each other.
I think literally that has been on the news too.
People are crazy.
With that alone, I would not expose myself to that.
(27:29):
I wouldn't either.
No, it's nothing really special.
It really isn't.
You can plan so much better in advance.
If anything, I feel bad for the people that work in retail on Black Friday.
Because most Americans working non-retail jobs are off.
And they have the very thankless task to endure a bunch of just crazy shoppers.
(27:54):
Now, one of the last things that we'll touch upon in terms of questions
and in terms of this Thanksgiving themed episode,
what are some things, Marco, that you are thankful for?
It sounds like a question that you would be asked in school,
like elementary school, primary school.
But speaking objectively, in your adult life, what are you thankful for?
(28:20):
I mean, for one thing, it shouldn't take a certain day
of the year to be thankful.
I think you should always appreciate.
Even on days when you're maybe not in the best mood,
you should still just remind yourself
that you're living a very good life
compared to maybe other parts of the world.
So what I'm thankful for is, first and foremost, health.
(28:41):
Health is wealth.
That is absolutely true.
And so you need to really be thankful.
Health comes first.
Everything else comes after that.
So yeah, health.
The things I have, the things I have accomplished.
The people around me, particularly you, these days, right?
I love that, yeah.
The freedom, you know, I am, or we are, both of us,
(29:04):
are very fortunate to live in a society
where we can, to an extent, kind of do whatever we want
and we can travel and we have the means to do that.
So yeah, that's something to be thankful for.
How about you?
Is it, I'm not sure if it's bad that I didn't think of this answer
super in advance, so I'm being spontaneous
(29:26):
and I'm answering it on the spot.
So am I.
I didn't prepare for that either.
I know you did.
Yeah, but that's part of the fun in this.
So yes, I will piggyback on Marco and say, yes,
I'm very, of course, thankful for the people in my life
and especially Marco.
For those of you who listened to the previous episode on dating,
(29:47):
you know that I had a little spiel on Marco
and how Marco is quite different
than other people I have dated in the past.
I have yet to listen to that.
Yes, Marco does listen to parts of these podcasts,
but he still has yet to listen to that one.
I did not say bad things about you.
You, I think, will be very enlightened.
(30:09):
But anyway, I'm getting off track.
I'm thankful for Marco.
I'm thankful for our friends.
I am also thankful to essentially through Marco
have other friends in Germany,
some very good quality, wonderful friends
who are far from us,
but who I really see are excellent people in this world.
Not everybody has good friends.
(30:31):
Yeah, that's a very good point.
Yeah, that's a very good point.
So just the friends, you know, the friends,
or the worlds that we opened each other up.
And also, you know, okay, it's just work,
but even my workplace, you know,
I have a job where I'm respected
and a job that ultimately enabled me to come here.
I mean, perfection doesn't exist nowhere in life.
(30:51):
No, but I think, yeah, the people around you.
So, yeah, friends and family,
and also, you know, including good colleagues.
Yes, friends, family, good colleagues.
I have a very wonderful boss.
I actually really, really do like my boss.
Some people have shit bosses,
really horrible people, so thankless.
I mean, no, I don't, so I don't have that.
(31:13):
I'm very fortunate to have housing, thanks to you,
but anyway, it's not a good thing to say.
You make it sound like,
you make it sound like a picture from the street.
No, Mary Grace was not homeless prior to meeting me.
I was not homeless.
Fake news, everybody.
No.
Yeah, I was not, no, I was not homeless,
but I'm extremely fortunate to have the economic
(31:36):
and financial teamwork with Marco.
Let's put it that way.
Yeah.
I'm very fortunate for, yes, good health, that's important.
I'm fortunate and happy and thankful for many things.
I'm thankful to travel.
I'm thankful to have the opportunity
to go places whenever we can.
I'm very thankful for all of my travel experiences
(31:59):
and opportunities that I've had up to this point
of 29 years old and hopefully more, much more beyond.
And what else?
I'm thankful to have this eternal link to Europe
through Marco.
I've mentioned Marco a lot in my gratitude here,
but I mean it really objectively.
I mean, I'm very fortunate that I've linked
both Europe and the US to my world.
(32:23):
Another thing to be thankful for is we live
in a modern world these days where
you can just run a podcast.
Exactly, and that too.
That's another really huge thing.
I am so thankful for starting this podcast.
I'm thankful for those of you who really listen every week,
those of you who share your thoughts,
(32:44):
your feedback, your experiences, your very kind words
and immense support.
I really couldn't ask for more than that
because this was just an idea that I spontaneously
thought of one day and I made it happen much sooner
than I realized and that's all.
I just really am so thankful.
So is there anything else you would like to add
(33:06):
to our gratitude list?
Happy Thanksgiving everybody.
It's great to be able to be here and have
this conversation with you or these conversations
as we go along about all sorts of fun topics.
Last thing that I will mention
and then I will really close off this episode,
I'm really thankful that Marco has grown
to really like being on the podcast.
I don't think he ever imagined that he would like doing this.
(33:30):
Yeah, I mean look, it's not like I'm
going to be doing this.
I mean look, it's safe to say,
if it hadn't been for you, I would have never
even thought about recording myself.
Like, no.
And Marco gets the easy end of the deal.
He doesn't do the editing, he doesn't have to do anything else,
he doesn't really do much prep.
He just sits here and talks.
(33:51):
Just sitting here and talking, you know.
And that's okay.
I mean, I was the one who started this.
I do all the editing, I do all of the,
all of my solo cast that you hear,
I'm so scripting for that, all of the editing that we...
And I'm just a lazy smart ass.
Yeah, but it's okay, but I'm thankful for all of that too.
We have, anyway, to say the least,
(34:12):
we have a long list of things to be thankful for.
Happy Thanksgiving!
Happy Thanksgiving!
This now wraps up today's episode on Thanksgiving.
We hope that you enjoyed and you really took
something new or interesting away from what you heard today.
If you have any questions or you have any specific things
(34:32):
you'd like to hear on the podcast,
just let me know on Instagram at either my host account
at Mary Grace Crawford or on the podcast account
at OnceUponATrip.pc.
We do wish you a very wonderful Thanksgiving
if you're here in the U.S.
And if you're not in the U.S.,
we wish you a nice remainder of this year
(34:55):
with all of the gratitude that you can foster
and have in your life and your situation.
Thank you really so much for tuning in
and for taking a deeper dive into Thanksgiving
and perspectives with Marco and me.
I really look forward to another fun
and adventurous trip of an episode next Tuesday
(35:18):
right here on the podcast.
I hope you have a really great week.
I'll see you next week.
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