It’s a bit unusual to have a designated month for one style of cuisine; November is known as Turkey Month. It might be a great excuse to roast dinners all the trimmings, though in Thailand that may not be all that easy, but there are plenty of unusual holidays to fill your November days with celebration.
The eponymous man behind the infamous “Gunpowder Plot” planned to blow up Britain’s Parliament in 1605, spawning annual bonfire celebrations, effigies, and creepy masks for centuries to come. It was Parliament that declared November 5th as a day of celebration to commemorate their foiling of Fawkes and company’s plot, but it’s Fawkes’ mischievous spirit that pervades the festivities.
NOVEMBER 6TH: NATIONAL SAXOPHONE DAY
Brass on the outside, woodwind on the inside, the saxophone has created sweet, sweet baby-making jams for more than 150 years. Invented in 1846 by Belgian instrument-maker Adolphe Sax, the saxophone has since become a staple of both modern jazz and classical compositions. NOVEMBER 13TH : WORLD KINDNESS DAY Founded in 1998 by an organization called the World Kindness Movement, this international holiday encourages everyone to look deep into their hearts past religion, race, and other differences to do something nice for their neighbors and/or humankind.
NOVEMBER 18TH: USELESS STUFF DAY
Although the advertising industry works terribly hard to convince us that we never quite have enough stuff, many of us probably use way more stuff than we need. Take the day to reflect on exactly which kinds of stuff are excessive in your day-to-day life, and how you might reduce using said stuff. Or at least clear room for all the new stuff you’ll be getting soon for the holidays.
NOVEMBER 19TH: WORLD TOILET DAY
A holiday devoted to the John, the Pot, the Latrine, the Porcelain God? Sounds like the brainchild of a group of 5th graders. In fact, it’s an international event dedicated to destigmatizing toilets and address the challenges of global sanitation. Billions of people in the world do not have proper access to toilets, but also that in addition to being vital to life, toilets can be “fun and sexy.”
NOVEMBER 19TH: INTERNATIONAL MEN’S DAY
You may be hard-pressed to find anyone who believes men are internationally underrepresented, but someone still deemed the male gender worthy of a worldwide holiday. The theme of this year’s men’s day is health, more specifically “Helping Men and Boys Live Longer, Happier, and Healthier Lives.” We can’t argue with that!
NOVEMBER 23rd NATIONAL CASHEW DAY
The cashew is one of nature’s true delights. It needs a little care to be able to achieve its greatest properties, like all good things, but when you finish harvesting and roasting it there are few things in life as delightful as a cashew nut. Cashew Day encourages you to go out and enjoy this delicious seed in any of its myriad of forms.
NOVEMBER 26th WORLD CAKE DAY
“Qu’ils mangent de la brioche!” or, “Let them eat cake!” is the most famous quote about cake ever. Cake is arguably one of the most delicious things humans have ever made to eat, and its numerous varieties continue to astound every cake fan. For that reason, it is obvious that cake is more than deserving of its own little holiday.
