{"id":928,"date":"2011-11-29T15:43:34","date_gmt":"2011-11-29T15:43:34","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/americanbuddhist\/?p=928"},"modified":"2011-11-29T20:21:03","modified_gmt":"2011-11-29T20:21:03","slug":"thanksgiving-american-buddhist-in-england-style","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/americanbuddhist\/2011\/11\/thanksgiving-american-buddhist-in-england-style.html","title":{"rendered":"Thanksgiving, American Buddhist (in England) Style"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<\/head>

I\u2019ve been away for a while.<\/p>\n

And in a sense that feels very good. It feels good to get away from the computer, from the constant onslaught of news, status updates, tweets, and emails.<\/p>\n

Mostly, I have been catching up on real-life projects, spending time with real-life people, and even reading physical <\/em>books. I was fortunate enough to have a very wonderful visitor and travel companion for a little journey taking us to London, Liverpool, Cork, and Dublin.<\/p>\n

Thanksgiving was spent in Cork in a thoroughly un-American style: attending a lecture on modern Chinese Buddhist<\/a> educational reforms, a glass of Irish stout (the local, Beamish<\/a>), and an Italian dinner. When I\u2019m back home, Thanksgiving is generally my favourite holiday, probably because it brings together friends and family in the simple tradition of gratitude, untarnished by commercial interests like most other holidays. There are no real expectations \u2013 except for certain food expectations: Cheri must bring her mustard-cheese cauliflower, and my brother, Brandon, pretty much has to make his string-bean casserole\u2026<\/p>\n

But everything changes the next day, the day we used to know as: \u201cthe day after Thanksgiving.\u201d Now it\u2019s Black Friday. The name alone makes me want to stay inside. Being in Ireland didn\u2019t help much, as the shopping district in Cork was packed with shoppers and sales and the \u201cEnglish Market\u201d was preparing for one of its (used to be once yearly, now thrice yearly) evening extravaganzas. And yet it was nothing like the insanity (pepper spray, shootings) in the US. Not even close.<\/p>\n

Our culture is screwed.\u00a0 Fueled by Black Friday \u2013 total spending over the four-day Thanksgiving weekend hit a record of $52.4 billion.\u00a0 But the real question is \u2013 at what cost to our society?\u00a0 This year\u2019s Black Friday featured its usual flare of violence, desperation, and death.\u00a0 At a Wal Mart in Little Rock, Arkansas dozens of shoppers rioted over $2 waffle makers.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Read more:\u00a0http:\/\/www.thomhartmann.com\/blog\/2011\/11\/really-nation-we-want-be<\/a><\/p>\n

So while I missed my family and friends in Montana, I am grateful to have missed the consumer mayhem of the weekend.<\/p>\n

I even managed to dodge yesterday\u2019s newly created \u201cCyber Monday.\u201d I spent some time online \u2013 and I received the numerous emails from seemingly each and every business I have ever bought something from \u2013 but I just didn\u2019t have it in me to shop.<\/p>\n

It feels good to be avoiding the chaos. Less time shopping and hunting for the perfect gifts = more time actually spent with the people I care about and enjoying the preciousness of life itself. Isn\u2019t that enough?<\/p>\n

\"Train<\/a>
Train from London to Liverpool<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

\"Liverpool<\/a>
Liverpool Sunset<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"Liverpool\"<\/a>
Liverpool<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"St<\/a>
St Patrick St., Cork, Ireland<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"Blossoms<\/a>
Blossoms outside the Dublin Castle<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"Dublin,<\/a>
Dublin, en route to the Guinness Storehouse<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

I\u2019ve been away for a while. And in a sense that feels very good. It feels good to get away from the computer, from the constant onslaught of news, status updates, tweets, and emails. Mostly, I have been catching up on real-life projects, spending time with real-life people, and even reading physical books. I was […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":118,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3,12,11],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-928","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-happiness","category-photography","category-travels"],"yoast_head":"\nThanksgiving, American Buddhist (in England) Style<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"I've been away for a while. And in a sense that feels very good. It feels good to get away from the computer, from the constant onslaught of news, status\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/americanbuddhist\/2011\/11\/thanksgiving-american-buddhist-in-england-style.html\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Thanksgiving, American Buddhist (in England) Style\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"I've been away for a while. And in a sense that feels very good. It feels good to get away from the computer, from the constant onslaught of news, status\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/americanbuddhist\/2011\/11\/thanksgiving-american-buddhist-in-england-style.html\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"American Buddhist Perspectives\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2011-11-29T15:43:34+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2011-11-29T20:21:03+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"http:\/\/wp.patheos.com.s3.amazonaws.com\/blogs\/americanbuddhist\/files\/2011\/11\/image004-300x181.jpg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Justin Whitaker\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Justin Whitaker\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/americanbuddhist\/2011\/11\/thanksgiving-american-buddhist-in-england-style.html\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/americanbuddhist\/2011\/11\/thanksgiving-american-buddhist-in-england-style.html\",\"name\":\"Thanksgiving, American Buddhist (in England) Style\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/americanbuddhist\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"2011-11-29T15:43:34+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2011-11-29T20:21:03+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/americanbuddhist\/#\/schema\/person\/abfb8f851f671638c4c7536b963f9da9\"},\"description\":\"I've been away for a while. And in a sense that feels very good. It feels good to get away from the computer, from the constant onslaught of news, status\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/americanbuddhist\/2011\/11\/thanksgiving-american-buddhist-in-england-style.html#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/americanbuddhist\/2011\/11\/thanksgiving-american-buddhist-in-england-style.html\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/americanbuddhist\/2011\/11\/thanksgiving-american-buddhist-in-england-style.html#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/americanbuddhist\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Thanksgiving, American Buddhist (in England) Style\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/americanbuddhist\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/americanbuddhist\/\",\"name\":\"American Buddhist Perspectives\",\"description\":\"\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/americanbuddhist\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":\"required name=search_term_string\"}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/americanbuddhist\/#\/schema\/person\/abfb8f851f671638c4c7536b963f9da9\",\"name\":\"Justin Whitaker\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/americanbuddhist\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/817b6fba8ae056aaff4f9bdc84347d72?s=96&d=identicon&r=pg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/817b6fba8ae056aaff4f9bdc84347d72?s=96&d=identicon&r=pg\",\"caption\":\"Justin Whitaker\"},\"description\":\"I am an almost-life-long Montanan; a baptized Catholic; an ardent Atheist; a practicing Buddhist; a lover of Wisdom. I have a BA and almost an MA in (Western) Philosophy from the University of Montana-Missoula, an MA in Buddhist Studies from Bristol University, UK, and I am currently working on a Ph.D. in Buddhist Ethics at the U of London. My main academic foci are early Buddhist ethics and Kant (odd combination, I know). I also study Western ethics, Tibetan Buddhism, Theravada, Comparative philosophy, and Environmental ethics. I also like photography, running, drinking wine, and eating peanut butter (often in that order).\",\"sameAs\":[\"http:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/americanbuddhist\/\"],\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/americanbuddhist\/author\/justinwhitaker\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Thanksgiving, American Buddhist (in England) Style","description":"I've been away for a while. And in a sense that feels very good. It feels good to get away from the computer, from the constant onslaught of news, status","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/americanbuddhist\/2011\/11\/thanksgiving-american-buddhist-in-england-style.html","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Thanksgiving, American Buddhist (in England) Style","og_description":"I've been away for a while. And in a sense that feels very good. It feels good to get away from the computer, from the constant onslaught of news, status","og_url":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/americanbuddhist\/2011\/11\/thanksgiving-american-buddhist-in-england-style.html","og_site_name":"American Buddhist Perspectives","article_published_time":"2011-11-29T15:43:34+00:00","article_modified_time":"2011-11-29T20:21:03+00:00","og_image":[{"url":"http:\/\/wp.patheos.com.s3.amazonaws.com\/blogs\/americanbuddhist\/files\/2011\/11\/image004-300x181.jpg"}],"author":"Justin Whitaker","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Justin Whitaker","Est. reading time":"3 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/americanbuddhist\/2011\/11\/thanksgiving-american-buddhist-in-england-style.html","url":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/americanbuddhist\/2011\/11\/thanksgiving-american-buddhist-in-england-style.html","name":"Thanksgiving, American Buddhist (in England) Style","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/americanbuddhist\/#website"},"datePublished":"2011-11-29T15:43:34+00:00","dateModified":"2011-11-29T20:21:03+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/americanbuddhist\/#\/schema\/person\/abfb8f851f671638c4c7536b963f9da9"},"description":"I've been away for a while. And in a sense that feels very good. It feels good to get away from the computer, from the constant onslaught of news, status","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/americanbuddhist\/2011\/11\/thanksgiving-american-buddhist-in-england-style.html#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/americanbuddhist\/2011\/11\/thanksgiving-american-buddhist-in-england-style.html"]}]},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/americanbuddhist\/2011\/11\/thanksgiving-american-buddhist-in-england-style.html#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/americanbuddhist"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Thanksgiving, American Buddhist (in England) Style"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/americanbuddhist\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/americanbuddhist\/","name":"American Buddhist Perspectives","description":"","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/americanbuddhist\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":"required name=search_term_string"}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/americanbuddhist\/#\/schema\/person\/abfb8f851f671638c4c7536b963f9da9","name":"Justin Whitaker","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/americanbuddhist\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/817b6fba8ae056aaff4f9bdc84347d72?s=96&d=identicon&r=pg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/817b6fba8ae056aaff4f9bdc84347d72?s=96&d=identicon&r=pg","caption":"Justin Whitaker"},"description":"I am an almost-life-long Montanan; a baptized Catholic; an ardent Atheist; a practicing Buddhist; a lover of Wisdom. I have a BA and almost an MA in (Western) Philosophy from the University of Montana-Missoula, an MA in Buddhist Studies from Bristol University, UK, and I am currently working on a Ph.D. in Buddhist Ethics at the U of London. My main academic foci are early Buddhist ethics and Kant (odd combination, I know). I also study Western ethics, Tibetan Buddhism, Theravada, Comparative philosophy, and Environmental ethics. I also like photography, running, drinking wine, and eating peanut butter (often in that order).","sameAs":["http:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/americanbuddhist\/"],"url":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/americanbuddhist\/author\/justinwhitaker"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/americanbuddhist\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/928","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/americanbuddhist\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/americanbuddhist\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/americanbuddhist\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/118"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/americanbuddhist\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=928"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/americanbuddhist\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/928\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/americanbuddhist\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=928"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/americanbuddhist\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=928"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/americanbuddhist\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=928"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}