When Teh Krajan was growing up in Vietnam, the big holiday was Tet, a two- or three-week celebration held early in the calendar year.

There was always "a lot of food," Krajan recalled, but the celebration had more to do with family and tradition than having one big meal.

Today, the Lancaster Township resident, his wife Phan, who's a fellow native of Vietnam, and their family will convene for a different, one-day holiday.

One that has a big ol' turkey in the middle of the table.

"It's become the tradition for us, just like it is with people who are born here," the 61-year-old Krajan said this week.

"It's about being with family, having the day off. To me, I'm always thankful I have the time to celebrate with family."

Krajan, who works in the finance division at Millersville University, had heard about the American tradition known as Thanksgiving when he was still in Vietnam.

When he arrived in the U.S. in the fall of 1976, sponsored by Landis Valley Mennonite Church, the then-single Krajan went to Thanksgiving dinner here with one of his sponsor families.

He got into the tradition of Thanksgiving gradually, he recalled, and it really picked up steam after he and his wife were married and they started having children.

"We had heard about it, but there's nothing quite like experiencing it, actually enjoying the turkey rather than just hearing people talk about it," he said.

When the oldest of their four children, daughter Susan, was in kindergarten in Lancaster, her friends "were talking about Thanksgiving, so I thought maybe I'd have a Thanksgiving dinner so my kids could experience it," Phan Krajan said.

"But I believe I started it out as more of an Asian-style Thanksgiving meal" than the traditional American turkey and stuffing, mashed potatoes, corn, cranberries and the like, she said.

Phan Krajan had a mishap or two cooking the turkey.

"I burned it once," she said sheepishly. But that was before she heard that the trick is putting water in the pan where the turkey is sitting, to both keep the bird from burning and also to help make gravy.

"I had never cooked that big a bird in my whole life!" she said. "But you learn."

The biggest turkey they've ever had was around 27 pounds, when all of their family and others were coming. This year, with one of their children unable to make it, the Krajans have a 15-pounder.

Phan Krajan still mixes in a few non-American items for the Thanksgiving dinner, like using a lot of vegetables, clear noodles, bamboo shoots, dried crabapples, "angel hair" seaweed and other ingredients for stuffing inside the turkey.

She does make traditional American dishes on the side, including stuffing, even though "I'm not too crazy about bread crumbs," she said.

As their New Jersey-born son-in-law Colin Levitt — who's married to Susan — pointed out regarding his mother-in-law's stuffing, "There are some Chinese ingredients in there, but there's really nothing Vietnamese about it."

Susan and Colin had the family up to New York for Thanksgiving last year, "and it was typical American all the way," Susan said, smiling.

Phan Krajan is originally from Cholon, the Chinese section of the former Saigon, and met her husband when he was rooming in Lancaster with her brother, Allen Liu, who had been sponsored to the U.S. by the same church.

Teh Krajan (his first name is pronounced "Tea") comes from Dalat, a city some 180 miles north of the former Saigon, just below the city of Nha Trang.

Teh Krajan graduated from Penn State in 1978 with a degree in business management, and has worked at MU since March 1984.

Along with Susan, the Krajans' other children are daughter Emilie, 28, a U.S. Navy officer; son Andrew, 23, an industrial engineer with R.H. Sheppard in Hanover; and daughter Elizabeth, 21, an international studies major at MU.

They also have a new grandson, 4-month-old Kirin, who was born July 4 and is their first grandchild.

The Krajans, who have been married 32 years, are members of Lancaster's Vietnamese Alliance Church.

Both agree their faith "makes you appreciate the meaning of Thanksgiving, the thankfulness, the family gathering together … it makes it special," Phan Krajan noted.

Her husband added, "We'll keep it (celebrating the holiday) as long as we can. It really is a good holiday to have, a celebration of thankfulness.

"It gives you a reason to get together. Not just food alone," he said.

Teh Krajan isn't a trained cook, but he'd be willing to learn how to make the turkey some Thanksgiving if pressed into service.

"I don't think I'll ever do that. I'd be willing to try, but I might have to go to YouTube or something" for an instructional video, he joked.

doconnor@lnpnews.com