For some college students, Thanksgiving is spent away from home
California University of Pennsylvania international students have a variety of plans for spending Thanksgiving in the United States. From left are Mikhail Filatov of Russia, Fardin Ananta of Bangladesh, Rachel Lim of Singapore and Johnny Nehza of Italy.
Tim Yeung of Los Angeles, left, will travel with friend Nate Tang to his home near Philadelphia for Thanksgiving.
Washington & Jefferson College sophomore Tim Yeung spent last Thanksgiving enjoying a holiday dinner at a friend’s Butler home.
This year, the Los Angeles native plans to eat turkey and stuffing at the home of classmate Nate Tang, a W&J freshman who lives near Philadelphia.
Many college campuses look like ghost towns during Thanksgiving break as students travel home to reunite with their families.
But some students, like Yeung, remain behind, for a variety of reasons – the cost of travel, distance from home or athletic responsibilities – and they come up with alternate holiday plans.
“We don’t get a long enough break for me to pay 600 bucks to fly home,” said Yeung, 19, who will miss seeing his family, but is happy to be rescued from his dorm by Tang. “I’ll talk to my family on Thanksgiving. I talk to them every day. Facetime.”
Local colleges have a number of international students.
About 90 international students are enrolled at California University of Pennsylvania, and their plans for celebrating the American family holiday vary widely.
Rachel Lim, a senior professional golf management major from Singapore, is flying to Las Vegas with her mother, who traveled to Cal U. last week, to spend the holiday with Lim’s former golf coach, Tom Leese.
“I’m going to the casinos,” she said.
Johnny Nezha of Italy anticipates celebrating his first Thanksgiving in the United States at the Lancaster home of his roommate, and he plans to immerse himself in the feast and festivities.
“I’m excited. My roommate said they’ll have about 20 people there, and they do it big. I imagine that they eat turkey, share stories and laugh, and enjoy being with family,” said Nezha. “This year I think they will probably talk about politics also.”
Mikahel Filatov, a sophomore from Russia, and freshman Fardin Ananta of Bangladesh, both mechatronics majors, are considering traveling to New York City for Thanksgiving.
But they also are kicking around the idea of remaining on campus in order to catch up on sleep and to study.
Said Filatov, “I have relatives in New York City, but I’m not sure yet what I’m going to do.”
At W&J, faculty members have reached out to far-flung students for years, opening their homes or hosting a dinner on campus.
Swimming coach Michael Orstein has taken in swimmers who have been unable to return home because of the short break and because Thanksgiving falls in the middle of the swim season.
“I am pretty much motivated to make sure our kids have a place. Our home is their home. We have cultivated here an atmosphere where the kids are an extended family for me,” said Orstein. “I look at the athletes as my own children.”
The college also prepared a Thanksgiving dinner last week, complete with turkey, mashed potatoes and trimmings, so that students could enjoy a traditional holiday meal.
W&J also partners with a program called Global Pittsburgh, which pairs community members interested in sharing the holiday with international students.
Sky Wei, 21, a senior cell and molecular biology major from China, spent his freshman Thanksgiving on campus. But since his sophomore year, he has celebrated the holiday in Pittsburgh at the home of his girlfriend, Tina Lee, 22, also a senior cell and molecular biology major.
“We just relax and hang out together,” said Wei. “We actually don’t have turkey. We have Chinese food. But we enjoy the day.”