Hallothanksmas

The first major US holiday since my departure has come and gone, and I thought you all might be interested to hear how I spent my Thanksgiving here in Pohnpei.

The day started like any other Thursday, nothing special. I told my family it was Thanksgiving at breakfast, and they all wished me a Happy Thanksgiving, but that was just about it. But I arrived at school to discover that the Governor had decreed that all schools take a half day to honor the celebration of Thanksgiving. This initially struck me as odd until I remembered this island’s love for time off of work; then it all made perfect sense.

So as we were all discussing the holiday during recess, I learned that many of my colleagues didn’t actually know what Thanksgiving celebrated. So we sat around in the office and I told them the story of Thanksgiving. It was sort of a strange experience, teaching a group of adults something that is so deeply ingrained into the people of my own culture. Then I told them a few stories of my own family and our Thanksgiving traditions, explained the Macy’s parade, and the American pride associated with the day of gluttony and thankfulness. They were all very entertained.

Then after recess, all of the classes began planning for…Christmas. Seriously. We had this time carved out for weeks. I found it endlessly amusing that it fell on Thanksgiving. (Let me remind you that there is no such thing as separation of church and state here, and the island is essentially 100% Christian, so Christmas is celebrated enthusiastically in the schools.) Here on Pohnpei, every school does Christmas the same way: Secret Santa. They don’t call it that, but that’s what it is. All the students’ names are written on pieces of paper, and everyone draws a name. Then on a designated day, the class has a big party where everyone brings food and their gifts. I chose to celebrate with the eighth grade class, so I drew names with them and prepared a sign-up list for food. All of this took almost the entire class period, save for 10 minutes before dismissal. My co-teacher Waltin and I looked at each other with momentary panic in our eyes, unsure of how to fill the time. But after only a brief pause, Waltin announced that everyone should take out a sheet of paper and draw a picture of Christmas for the remainder of the period. Absolutely zero educational value, but a perfect assignment, nonetheless. I loved walking around looking at all the pictures! It put me in such a jolly Christmas spirit…on Thanksgiving.

Then at lunch, we all left for the day—Happy Thanksgiving!  At home, I decided I wanted to do something to celebrate Thanksgiving with my family, so before we all ate, I went across the street to a little store (attached to a home) and bought four cold soda cans for us to share. The treat had exactly the right effect: everyone came together, ate, drank, and laughed. And even though I only got about two sips of soda, it was worth it to see the smiles on my family members’ faces. It was the closest thing to Thanksgiving that I could have hoped for.  As one of my nieces was gulping some grape soda, she smiled and said, “Happy Halloween, Christy!” I give her points for at least choosing a holiday during the right season.

Then that evening, the kids were still pumped up from the Christmas planning at school, so they convinced my Nohno and Pahpa that it was a good day to begin hanging Christmas lights. I know, I was just as surprised as you are. So I sat in there in the imwios  (thatched-roofed hut), watching some of the older boys drape multi-colored Christmas lights and helping my younger cousins make Halloween masks out of cardboard we’d found. On Thanksgiving.

And even though it was the strangest Thanksgiving I ever had, it was definitely a day in which I felt very thankful. Thankful for the opportunity to be here in this incredibly beautiful place and live with these amazing people that I’ve somehow earned the right to call my family. This is an experience for which I will be eternally thankful.

I hope everyone had a great Thanksgiving, because my Hallothanksmas was wonderful.

--Christy