感恩节 vs 黑色星期五 | 我也试图用消费主义，来填补灵魂中的空虚
贾德林（美国人）
南京大学中美文化研究中心 国际关系研究生
微信名地球防卫军（微信号保密）。因为喜欢了解不同国家的文化，而且想争取做个英雄，就像防卫军一样，因此取名。
这是《外国人眼中的中国》第60篇
They say the older you get, the faster time seems to go by. That has certainly been true for me and I suspect it is also why the boundaries between Halloween, Thanksgiving and Christmas seem to get more and more blurry each year.
人们说年纪越大，时间似乎过得越快。对我来说确实如此。这也是为什么我感觉每年万圣节、感恩节和圣诞节之间的界限，变得越来越模糊。
For some reason unbeknownst to me, the three months of October, November and December go by unusually fast. This is the time of the year when it is easiest to experience burnout, when the sudden drop in temperature eats away at your mood and saps away your energy to get things done.
Fortunately for Americans, during this dreadful time period we have three excuses to eat, drink and be merry!
不知为什么，十月、十一月和十二月，这三个月过得异常快。这是一年中最容易感到疲惫的时候，骤降的温度影响你的心情，消耗你做事的精力。
幸运的是，在这可怕的时期，我们美国人有这三个理由，去吃、喝和庆祝！
Halloween, Thanksgiving and Christmas are the three big holidays into America. I am sure most readers here are somewhat familiar with Halloween and Christmas, after all these holidays do have a notable albeit small presence in China.
万圣节、感恩节和圣诞节是美国的三大节日。我相信这里的大多数读者，对万圣节和圣诞节都有点熟悉，毕竟这些节日在中国，确实有着明显的影响，虽然规模不大。
Thanksgiving? Not so much. For this article, I won’t go into too much detail on the history of Thanksgiving (and how the Thanksgiving story is all wrong), instead I will just let everyone have a small glimpse at what I did.
Since I am from a family of immigrants, it is normal for us to have the usual American dishes with a smattering of Iranian and Afghan food. Mashed potatoes, gravy, asparagus and of course Turkey… plus rice and lamb!
至于感恩节？没什么影响。在这篇文章中，我就不详细介绍感恩节的历史了（以及感恩节的由来）。我就说说我自己会做的事情，让大家对感恩节有个小小的了解。
因为我来自一个移民家庭，所以（感恩节当天）我们通常会吃美国菜，再加上一些伊朗菜和阿富汗菜。土豆泥、肉汁、芦笋，当然还有火鸡…还有米饭和羊肉！
Right before we dug in, we went around the table and had everyone say what they are thankful for. I was tired from my long journey home and can not recall what I said. Suffice it to say at that moment I was thankful for the food.
After our meal, my family split off into groups. The older adults sat around a table drinking tea while the kids and younger adults (包括我，我内心还是个宝宝）played video games. Some families watch football but that never really caught on in our family.
在用餐开始之前，我们会围着桌子转圈，然后每个人说出他们想说的感谢的话。那天我刚长途旅行回家，非常累，想不起该说什么。在那一刻，我对食物表示了感谢。
饭后，一家人自动分成了几个“小组”。老年人围坐在桌子旁喝茶，而小孩和年轻人（包括我，我内心还是个宝宝）则开始玩游戏。有些家庭会一起看足球，但这在我们家从来没有真正时兴过。
Americans have another strange tradition. After going around the table to give thanks, we almost immediately run off to buy things we don’t need in a shopping frenzy known as Black Friday. The irony of Thanksgiving vs Black Friday is not lost on most people, but the deals are too damn good.
美国人还有一个奇怪的传统。在围着桌子感恩之后，我们几乎立刻跑去买一些自己不需要的东西，这就是所谓的“黑色星期五”。“感恩节”对比“黑色星期五”的存在，对大多数人来说依然讽刺，但交易额实在太好了。
▲如果你这个周末要去购物，请做一个正派的人，切换到景观模式，这样我们就可以真正地享受这场战斗了。
Every year, the boundary between Thanksgiving and Black Friday also seems to get blurrier. Some people start standing in line in front of stores as early as 5:00 pm on Thanksgiving night, when everyone should be having dinner.
I did not go out that early, but I did succumb to Black Friday temptations. Like many, I too sought to fill the gaping void in my soul with thoughtless consumerism!
每年，感恩节和黑色星期五之间的界限，似乎也越来越模糊。一些人早在感恩节晚上5点，就开始在商店前排队，而那个时间大家应该在吃感恩节晚餐才对。
我虽没有那么早出门，但我确实禁不住黑色星期五的诱惑。像许多人一样，我也试图用不经深思熟虑的消费主义，来填补我灵魂中的空虚！
First I bought a pair of noise-cancelling headphones (because who needs social interaction!).
I almost got ripped off by the first store I went to.
After that I bought a new backpack on sale for Black Friday.
首先我买了一副消除噪音的耳机（因为谁会需要社交活动！）。
但我差点被我去的第一家店给骗了。
然后，我买了一个新的背包，黑色星期五特价出售…
aaaaand it got ripped. A small hole appeared in my backpack during my flight back.
然然然然然后它被撕破了。我坐航班回来的时候，背包出现了一个破洞。
Alas, Thanksgiving was never about the Black Friday sales. It was really about being thankful… thankful for all of you!
Let’s go around the table. What is everyone thankful for?
唉，感恩节从来就不是黑色星期五的大减价。而是真的关于感谢…感谢你们所有人！
让我们围着桌子转一下。你们都想感谢什么？
音乐 | You are not alone-Michael Jackson
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