A week ago, Thanksgiving for me was something American, something foreign, that I had only seen being celebrated on TV. Now it is a holiday that I have celebrated myself.

I have always thought about Thanksgiving as a holiday that was mainly created as an excuse to eat more food. A holiday where you showed how thankful you are for having food by simply eating as much as possible. Sure, I heard the stories about the Pilgrims and the Indians sharing a meal, but I also heard that the famous sharing of a meal never actually happened.

Despite the fact that I wasn’t entirely sure as to why the holiday was being celebrated, I was very excited to celebrate it. I wanted to watch Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade on TV and eat turkey, cranberry sauce and pumpkin pie just like they do in the movies. And that’s exactly what I did.

I also realized that Thanksgiving is about much more than just the feast. It is about spending time with family, being thankful for what you have and giving back to the less fortunate.