Black Friday / Cyber Monday

A Blog Post by Dr. JoJo

Every year on the fourth Thursday in November, Americans celebrate Thanksgiving (Erntedankfest). In 2017, 51 million people traveled across the United States to celebrate this important holiday with their families.  The standard meal is turkey with all the fixins (Puten mit jeder Menge Beilagen), including stuffing (Füllung), cranberry sauce, green bean casserole, and pumpkin pie. After we have eaten, we watch hours of American football on television then fall into a food coma.

The Friday after Thanksgiving is called "Black Friday." Perhaps you've heard about the crazy sales at the shopping malls on this day.  The malls open their doors at midnight and millions (101 million in 2016) go shopping for Christmas presents.  This day is called "Black" Friday, because it is a chance for shops to increase their profit (Gewinnsteigerung) for the year.  A profit (Gewinn) means that the shops are "in the black" (in den schwarzen Zahlen).  If they are in the red (in den roten Zahlen) it means the shops have lost money for the year.

The Monday after Thanksgiving is called Cyber Monday, and it is another important shopping day.  On the weekend, people learned how much televisions, computers, and other high-priced items cost in the shops.  On Cyber Monday people try to find those same products on the internet for a cheaper price.  Cyber (pronounced SEI-ber) is a term that means computer (think of cyber crime, cyber bullying, cybernaut).

And now you know about as much about Black Friday / Cyber Monday as I do!  If you read this, please leave a comment below!  I love hearing from my students!