IT IS WHO WE ARE:

Having moved over from England a few years ago, Thanksgiving has taught me what it actually means to be American.

From the outside, all that most foreigners see of America is a stereotypically brash, greedy "number one!" mentality, with a giant soda-drinking mouse mascot, overly padded sportsmen, and an earnest desire to police the world. Sure -- you win lots of medals at all the Olympics. Congratulations! But is there any real need to be quite so LOUD about it?

At first, I was puzzled about why this holiday was even a thing -- with Christmas around the corner, why have two turkey-based holiday dinners in the space of two months? And WHY ON EARTH are we serving peas in vinegar and a whole artichoke? Where are the roast potatoes?

How naïve I was. I have worked out a few things since then (including the fact that most Americans don't eat turkey on December 25th, that's a British quirk.)

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