Thanksgiving has always been a confusing holiday for me.

Instead of being a family get-together, it always seemed that Thanksgiving is an excuse to party. My image of the picturesque American Turkey Day feast is a group of family members sitting together at a table, eating lots and lots of mashed potatoes, stuffing, bread, cheese, cranberries, and, of course, turkey. Then there’s the family sitting around a fire, telling stories and popping popcorn, enjoying the presence of each other. Like in Laura Ingalls Wilder’s "Little House" series.

You see, I don’t know what a “typical” Turkey Day is like. I grew up in a Chinese family, with Chinese culture, traditions, and values. We celebrate many different holidays, but none of them have much to do with turkeys and mashed potatoes. After all, the English didn’t come and colonize China — they were off by a continent and an ocean.

As a result, when the big feast day comes, I’m at a loss as to what to do. Maybe bake a few potatoes or buy a roasted chicken, but there’s none of that six-hours’ worth of roasting dead birds, cleaning it out, or stuffing it with … stuffing. Or sniffing the aromatic pies baking in the oven. Or bustling around the kitchen trying to get a taste of dinner.

In fact, we get so confused with what we “should” do for the big day that we end up ordering pizza from Domino’s or dishes from a local Chinese restaurant. Not quite what you would probably consider a Thanksgiving meal, but it’s special enough.

Sometimes we attend parties at friends of my parents, who are pretty much all Chinese. Playing up to the American traditions, our hosts offer preroasted turkeys or other “American” dishes, potluck style. But there’s always the Asian rice dish and Chinese chatter in the air that seems to make it just a party, not Thanksgiving.

So when I hear my friends talk about what they do for Thanksgiving, I’m a little jealous of not participating in such activities. Coming from a different culture, we don’t know how to celebrate American holidays American style. We don’t have those traditions.

But we do have our own special festivals. So when the next moon festival comes around, I’ll be the one having to watch my waistline expand as I consume all those delicious mooncakes. And share some with my friends, if they don’t get put off by the excessive oil and unusual ingredients.