International Thanksgiving

Students adjust to American family holiday tradition

By EISA AL NASHMI

For Americans, Thanksgiving is a time to reunite with family and have a traditional feast.

But what about International students who don’t celebrate Thanksgiving and have family members thousands of miles away?

Pam Pokrovsky, an international student adviser, said international students have different perspectives on the Thanksgiving holiday.

For newcomers, experiencing Thanksgiving is a “novelty,” Pokrovsky said.

“It’s a completely new festival to them, and they want to know everything about this feast day,” she said.

Pokrovsky said Thanksgiving is a time when people leave everything they do, and get together with their families.

“America is a very individualistic society, and Thanksgiving is a contrast of American behavior,” she said. “Thanksgiving is interesting for international students because they can experience the family side of their American colleagues.”

Ahmad Alenezi, a student from Kuwait, said he always thought that when Americans turn 18 years old, they leave their homes and never come back. But his opinion changed when he experienced his first Thanksgiving with his American host family shortly after he came to America in 1999.

“It was so much fun, and I really enjoyed the family atmosphere,” Alenezi said. “I had turkey for the first time, but I honestly still couldn’t figure out why Americans cook turkey specifically on that day.”

In the Kuwaiti culture, there are two yearly celebrations called Eid. The first Eid comes after Muslims make a pilgrimage to the holy land of Mecca, and the second Eid comes after the month of Ramadan, a time when Muslims refrain from food and drink during the day.

Alenezi said in Eid, people dress up in their best clothes, visit their families and enjoy the whole day together.

Alenezi hasn’t celebrated Eid with his family the past three years.

“Because I’m far away from my family, it’s not as much fun and I really miss my family when Eid comes,” he said.

Andreas Gold, an exchange student from Germany, celebrated Thanksgiving last week because he is going to Las Vegas for the holiday.

Gold invited 17 of his friends—some foreign students and some American—to his house for dinner, where he cooked a 24-pound turkey and some German dishes.

“I got the biggest turkey I could find, and it took me seven and a half hours to cook,” he said. “I never cooked turkey before, but I am glad it tasted good.”

Gold said there is a celebration similar to Thanksgiving in Germany. It is on the same day as Thanksgiving, but it is more of a religious ceremony in which people go to church and thank God for all the good he sends to earth.

Aparna Menon, a psychology student from India, said that, being Thanksgiving is a time when families get together, she knows she will miss her family.

Menon said in the city where she comes from, people celebrate Onam in October. Onam is a day when families get together, cook food all day, have a small dinner and give leftovers to the poor.

Menon said she usually has more than 30 family members getting together on that day.

“It’s the one time when everyone gets together,” she said. “It’s a time to have fun and reconnect with one another.”