Happy Thanksgiving - Page 2

Vitruvius09 · November 25th, 2008, 11:29 PM

No bottles, cans, coolers or fireworks can be brought into the park.

this is so you purchase drinks there, but seriously they cant kick you out of a public park and they cant take your drink!

spellbound · November 27th, 2008, 10:51 AM

Whatever our differences, a VERY Happy Thanksgiving to all!

mr jones · November 27th, 2008, 03:01 PM

Happy Thanksgiving all!

rober2010 · November 28th, 2008, 01:37 PM

happythanksgiving

Endeavor305 · November 28th, 2008, 04:47 PM

little late, but Happy Thanksgiving. Hope you all ate well and had a good time with your families.

Roark · November 29th, 2008, 06:46 PM

NOVEMBER 29, 2008
What Newcomers Know About Thanksgiving
Immigrant students learn what makes America great.
By MELANIE KIRKPATRICK Queens, N.Y.
Study after depressing study finds that public schools are failing in their civic duty to transmit to students an appreciation of American history and ideals. That may be so. But on this Thanksgiving weekend, allow me to recount a good news story from a New York City high school for recent immigrants. There, a group of teenagers, born in the four corners of the world, have a lot to teach a native-born visitor about Thanksgiving and what it means to choose to come to this country. For them, the Pilgrims' story mirrors their own stories.

Barbara KelleyNewcomers High School is located in the New York City borough of Queens, where, according to the 2000 Census, 46% of the population of 2.2 million are immigrants. It is one of the most ethnically diverse counties in the country. Some 850 students attend Newcomers, says Principal Mary Burke. They hail from 60 countries and speak 40-plus languages. For most, this past Thursday marked their first or second Thanksgiving celebration.
Sophia Zannis teaches ESL -- English as a Second Language -- at Newcomers. She uses the Thanksgiving story to get her students talking and writing about why they came to the U.S. History teacher Tim Becker includes a unit on the holiday even though Thanksgiving isn't part of the state-mandated curriculum for his 11th-grade class. It "reminds my students that they are not the first new Americans to have struggled to achieve their dreams," he says, "and that others before them have overcome the challenges of living in a new country."
Like the Pilgrims, most of the students at Newcomers say their families came here seeking better lives. The Pilgrims "were looking for something they didn't have in England," says a girl from Colombia. "When you come here it is the same. You have to face difficulties." An Ecuadorian girl sitting near her agrees, "When they [the Pilgrims] came here, they felt alone and didn't have friends. Me either."
Virtually every student I talk to has a similar story: "My dad came here to have a better life," says a girl from Ivory Coast. "He worked as a house boy. Now he works for the MTA [Metropolitan Transit Authority]." Or a boy from China: "My mother finished elementary school. Then there wasn't any money for middle school. . . . She wanted to come here to make a better life for her children." A Bangladeshi boy quotes the Declaration of Independence; his family came here for the purpose of "pursuiting the happiness."
In Ms. Zannis's class, we fall into a discussion of the virtues the Pilgrims exemplify and the personal characteristics they needed in order to survive the terrible winter of 1620-21, when half their number died. The words fly across the classroom: "Courage." "Hard-working." "Brave." "Frustrated." "Strong." "Don't give up."
That, in turn, segues into a discussion of poverty in America and how it's different from poverty in their home countries. The poor in this country seem "middle class," says a boy from Mexico. Another Mexican, this time in Mr. Becker's class, makes a similar observation. "In my country," he says, the poor are "skinny. . . . Here it is different. They are fat. Food is very cheap here. . . . They can get a dollar meal." The girl from Ivory Coast says it pains her to see Americans sleeping on the streets. The poor don't sleep outdoors in her country, she says. "They sleep with family or friends. We see more poor people" in this country.
Newcomers High School also has students who, like the Pilgrims, came to the U.S. seeking freedom of worship. A boy who says he's from Tibet notes that his family "couldn't practice the religion of the Dalai Lama" in China. An Indonesian girl, who is Christian, tells of being persecuted by Muslims in her neighborhood and fearing for her safety. An Egyptian, also a Christian, says she feared being kidnapped and forced to convert to Islam. "We wanted to close all the bad pages of memory . . . and start a new page."
The kids all seem familiar with Thanksgiving's food traditions and more than half of those I speak to say they plan to celebrate at home with the festive bird. There are nontraditional foods on the menu too. A Polish girl mentions pierogies. A Chinese boy says his family will eat rice. When I ask whether it really matters what you eat on Thanksgiving, I get a bunch of "you gotta be kidding" looks. "Yes! It's tradition!" shouts out one student." "Remember the history of the country," admonishes another.
The kids at Newcomers High School have an edge on their native-born peers: They know why they're here -- a knowledge that translates into an intense appreciation for their new country. I don't know how Newcomers' students would score if required to name the "Father of the Constitution" or to identify the opening words of the Declaration of Independence, as one test of general historical knowledge recently asked students elsewhere. Nor do I know whether the respect for different cultural traditions that the high school obviously fosters is accompanied by a curriculum that stresses American history, culture and heroes -- the store of knowledge that binds us together as a nation.
But the young newcomers I interviewed in Queens had an essential, and very personal, understanding of the earliest story at the heart of the American experience. They understood the hurdles the English settlers had to overcome before they celebrated the First Thanksgiving and why it was worth it. "My story and their story was very much alike," says a boy from Bangladesh. "Both groups suffered in their mother country . . . and arrived in the United States with a new hope in [their] heart, a new dream in [their] eyes."

Aceventura · November 26th, 2009, 11:30 PM

Happy Thanksgiving Everyone!

mr jones · November 27th, 2009, 02:05 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by mr jones

Happy Thanksgiving all!

spellbound · November 27th, 2009, 07:33 PM

A day late but hope everybody had a great Thanksgiving and made voracious, disturbing eating machines out of themselves.

Displaced Miami Man · November 27th, 2009, 11:32 PM

Happy Turkeyday everyone!

noland123 · November 28th, 2009, 12:02 AM

75 million turkeys gave their lives so that we could feast.

Endeavor305 · November 28th, 2009, 01:01 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by spellbound

A day late but hope everybody had a great Thanksgiving and made voracious, disturbing eating machines out of themselves.

Eating machine doesn't justify how much I ate. I had seconds and thirds at each dinner. And the plates were as full as can be. I'm also in a loading up phase or the gym so the timing was perfect. Happy Thanksgiving you all.

***QuantumX*** · November 24th, 2011, 08:27 PM

HAPPY THANKSGIVING YOU GUYS! Hopefully, we will have lots of new projects to be thankful for next year!

spellbound · November 25th, 2011, 05:44 AM

Happy Thanksgiving to all the cool, interesting, and funny people here who make it a pleasure to be part of this forum!

theEmbarcadero · November 25th, 2011, 08:24 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by spellbound

Happy Thanksgiving to all the cool, interesting, and funny people here who make it a pleasure to be part of this forum!

what he said

CF221 · November 25th, 2011, 03:35 PM

Happy Thanksgiving! Gobble Gobble.

mr jones · November 25th, 2011, 10:57 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by mr jones

Happy Thanksgiving all!

Endeavor305 · November 29th, 2011, 03:58 AM

Hope you all had a good holiday weekend. Went out of town, otherwise I would of posted sooner.

spellbound · November 29th, 2011, 05:04 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Endeavor305

Hope you all had a good holiday weekend. Went out of town, otherwise I would of posted sooner.

Well, hopefully we can find it in our hearts to forgive you.

Endeavor305 · November 29th, 2011, 06:21 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by spellbound

Well, hopefully we can find it in our hearts to forgive you.

LOL.

I love this place.

November 28th, 2008, 04:47 PM	#25
Endeavor305 Registered Fool Join Date: May 2008 Location: Miami, FL Posts: 2,529 Likes (Received): 24	little late, but Happy Thanksgiving. Hope you all ate well and had a good time with your families. __________________ It's never too late.

November 27th, 2009, 11:32 PM	#30
Displaced Miami Man Registered User Join Date: Oct 2002 Location: Michigan (thus the screen name) Posts: 90 Likes (Received): 0	Happy Turkeyday everyone! __________________ "Success is not the result of spontaneous combustion; you set yourself on fire!"

November 24th, 2011, 08:27 PM	#33
*QuantumX* Brickell CityCentre (u/c) Join Date: Mar 2008 Location: Miami Posts: 7,518 Likes (Received): 145	HAPPY THANKSGIVING YOU GUYS! Hopefully, we will have lots of new projects to be thankful for next year! __________________ "I'm going to bet you that when we're done -- I don't know when that will be -- historians will identify this as the most significant and rapid transformation of an American city.'' Former Miami City Commissioner 05/22/05 THE BEST OF MIAMI AND THE BEACHES! QUANTUM IN CHICAGO! THE WYNWOOD WALLS OF MIAMI!

November 25th, 2011, 03:35 PM	#36
CF221 Registered User Join Date: Mar 2009 Location: Miami, Fl Posts: 1,464 Likes (Received): 46	Happy Thanksgiving! Gobble Gobble. __________________ Non nobis Domine, non nobis, sed nomini tuo da gloriam.

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November 25th, 2008, 11:29 PM	#21
Vitruvius09 Registered User Join Date: Oct 2007 Posts: 270 Likes (Received): 0	No bottles, cans, coolers or fireworks can be brought into the park. this is so you purchase drinks there, but seriously they cant kick you out of a public park and they cant take your drink!

November 27th, 2008, 10:51 AM	#22
spellbound Contents Under Pressure Join Date: Nov 2005 Location: philly/miami Posts: 6,137 Likes (Received): 28	Whatever our differences, a VERY Happy Thanksgiving to all!

November 27th, 2008, 03:01 PM	#23
mr jones Registered User Join Date: Nov 2007 Location: Fort Lauderdale Posts: 610 Likes (Received): 6	Happy Thanksgiving all!

November 28th, 2008, 01:37 PM	#24
rober2010 Registered User Join Date: Dec 2006 Location: cordoba-miami Posts: 1,954 Likes (Received): 0	happythanksgiving

November 29th, 2008, 06:46 PM	#26
Roark BANNED Join Date: May 2004 Posts: 3,919 Likes (Received): 0	NOVEMBER 29, 2008 What Newcomers Know About Thanksgiving Immigrant students learn what makes America great. By MELANIE KIRKPATRICK Queens, N.Y. Study after depressing study finds that public schools are failing in their civic duty to transmit to students an appreciation of American history and ideals. That may be so. But on this Thanksgiving weekend, allow me to recount a good news story from a New York City high school for recent immigrants. There, a group of teenagers, born in the four corners of the world, have a lot to teach a native-born visitor about Thanksgiving and what it means to choose to come to this country. For them, the Pilgrims' story mirrors their own stories. Barbara KelleyNewcomers High School is located in the New York City borough of Queens, where, according to the 2000 Census, 46% of the population of 2.2 million are immigrants. It is one of the most ethnically diverse counties in the country. Some 850 students attend Newcomers, says Principal Mary Burke. They hail from 60 countries and speak 40-plus languages. For most, this past Thursday marked their first or second Thanksgiving celebration. Sophia Zannis teaches ESL -- English as a Second Language -- at Newcomers. She uses the Thanksgiving story to get her students talking and writing about why they came to the U.S. History teacher Tim Becker includes a unit on the holiday even though Thanksgiving isn't part of the state-mandated curriculum for his 11th-grade class. It "reminds my students that they are not the first new Americans to have struggled to achieve their dreams," he says, "and that others before them have overcome the challenges of living in a new country." Like the Pilgrims, most of the students at Newcomers say their families came here seeking better lives. The Pilgrims "were looking for something they didn't have in England," says a girl from Colombia. "When you come here it is the same. You have to face difficulties." An Ecuadorian girl sitting near her agrees, "When they [the Pilgrims] came here, they felt alone and didn't have friends. Me either." Virtually every student I talk to has a similar story: "My dad came here to have a better life," says a girl from Ivory Coast. "He worked as a house boy. Now he works for the MTA [Metropolitan Transit Authority]." Or a boy from China: "My mother finished elementary school. Then there wasn't any money for middle school. . . . She wanted to come here to make a better life for her children." A Bangladeshi boy quotes the Declaration of Independence; his family came here for the purpose of "pursuiting the happiness." In Ms. Zannis's class, we fall into a discussion of the virtues the Pilgrims exemplify and the personal characteristics they needed in order to survive the terrible winter of 1620-21, when half their number died. The words fly across the classroom: "Courage." "Hard-working." "Brave." "Frustrated." "Strong." "Don't give up." That, in turn, segues into a discussion of poverty in America and how it's different from poverty in their home countries. The poor in this country seem "middle class," says a boy from Mexico. Another Mexican, this time in Mr. Becker's class, makes a similar observation. "In my country," he says, the poor are "skinny. . . . Here it is different. They are fat. Food is very cheap here. . . . They can get a dollar meal." The girl from Ivory Coast says it pains her to see Americans sleeping on the streets. The poor don't sleep outdoors in her country, she says. "They sleep with family or friends. We see more poor people" in this country. Newcomers High School also has students who, like the Pilgrims, came to the U.S. seeking freedom of worship. A boy who says he's from Tibet notes that his family "couldn't practice the religion of the Dalai Lama" in China. An Indonesian girl, who is Christian, tells of being persecuted by Muslims in her neighborhood and fearing for her safety. An Egyptian, also a Christian, says she feared being kidnapped and forced to convert to Islam. "We wanted to close all the bad pages of memory . . . and start a new page." The kids all seem familiar with Thanksgiving's food traditions and more than half of those I speak to say they plan to celebrate at home with the festive bird. There are nontraditional foods on the menu too. A Polish girl mentions pierogies. A Chinese boy says his family will eat rice. When I ask whether it really matters what you eat on Thanksgiving, I get a bunch of "you gotta be kidding" looks. "Yes! It's tradition!" shouts out one student." "Remember the history of the country," admonishes another. The kids at Newcomers High School have an edge on their native-born peers: They know why they're here -- a knowledge that translates into an intense appreciation for their new country. I don't know how Newcomers' students would score if required to name the "Father of the Constitution" or to identify the opening words of the Declaration of Independence, as one test of general historical knowledge recently asked students elsewhere. Nor do I know whether the respect for different cultural traditions that the high school obviously fosters is accompanied by a curriculum that stresses American history, culture and heroes -- the store of knowledge that binds us together as a nation. But the young newcomers I interviewed in Queens had an essential, and very personal, understanding of the earliest story at the heart of the American experience. They understood the hurdles the English settlers had to overcome before they celebrated the First Thanksgiving and why it was worth it. "My story and their story was very much alike," says a boy from Bangladesh. "Both groups suffered in their mother country . . . and arrived in the United States with a new hope in [their] heart, a new dream in [their] eyes."

November 26th, 2009, 11:30 PM	#27
Aceventura Registered User Join Date: May 2007 Location: Miami Posts: 1,236 Likes (Received): 8	Happy Thanksgiving Everyone!

November 27th, 2009, 07:33 PM	#29
spellbound Contents Under Pressure Join Date: Nov 2005 Location: philly/miami Posts: 6,137 Likes (Received): 28	A day late but hope everybody had a great Thanksgiving and made voracious, disturbing eating machines out of themselves.

November 28th, 2009, 12:02 AM	#31
noland123 Registered User Join Date: Jun 2007 Posts: 590 Likes (Received): 0	75 million turkeys gave their lives so that we could feast.

November 25th, 2011, 05:44 AM	#34
spellbound Contents Under Pressure Join Date: Nov 2005 Location: philly/miami Posts: 6,137 Likes (Received): 28	Happy Thanksgiving to all the cool, interesting, and funny people here who make it a pleasure to be part of this forum!

November 29th, 2011, 03:58 AM	#38
Endeavor305 Registered Fool Join Date: May 2008 Location: Miami, FL Posts: 2,529 Likes (Received): 24	Hope you all had a good holiday weekend. Went out of town, otherwise I would of posted sooner.