MTSU’s international students celebrate Thanksgiving

Thanksgiving is a time of year to which most college students look forward. Not only is it a break from classes, but it also gives students a chance to return home, have a good meal and reconnect with their families.

"For Thanksgiving I'm going back home," Sterling Miller says, junior digital media major. "I haven't seen my family in a while."

Many students plan to spend the Thanksgiving holiday at home with their family, but for the international students at MTSU, home can be thousands of miles away. This year MTSU has 140 international students enrolled in undergraduate programs.

Unlike most students, their holiday plans are uncertain. Because they do not have family that they can automatically stay with, these students are forced to create their own plans for the holiday.

Mariko Kondo, a junior English major from Nagoya, Japan, was invited to a friend's house for the holiday, while Miller's roommate Chan Chen, an international student from Changsha, China, said that she and some friends were invited to Thanksgiving Dinner at President Sidney McPhee's house.

Chihiro Isono, a junior education major from Hokkaido, Japan, is also planning to spend the holiday with a local family.

"I may go to Illinois with my family from First Friends," Isono says.

According to Tech Wubneh, director of International Programs and Services, First Friends is a program where international students are matched with local families.

The program is a way of trying to introduce students to American culture and to help them feel more comfortable in the U.S. The department "has receptions on a regular basis to help them get to know each other."

Sometimes the student becomes very close to the family.

"It is very likely that those that have that kind of connection will go with their family in these situations," Wubneh says.

Some of the students are taking advantage of the university holiday and planning to travel.

Phyiclia Coleman, sophomore accounting major, is a resident assistant in Lyon Hall and has spoken to some of the international students on her floor about their holiday plans.

"Some of them are going out of town," she says. "They tell me they might go to New York."

Coleman said the international students that have no plans may attend the Thanksgiving dinner that is thrown for students every year.

Sponsored by MTSU's Parent and Family Association and Housing and Residential Life, the dinner is held on Thanksgiving Day at the Scarlett Commons Clubhouse from 2 p.m. to 5 p.m. Students staying on campus are invited to have a traditional Thanksgiving Dinner for free.

Whether they are spending the holiday traveling around the country or attending a small campus celebration, these students still have certain expectations about the holiday.

Most of them said they were interested in eating turkey and shopping on Black Friday. But others were also interested in the learning experience.

"I want to learn about culture in the U.S.," Isono says. "For example, I want to learn about the dishes and customs."

Because Thanksgiving is an American holiday, many of these students have little knowledge about the holiday and its customs.

"I don't know much about it," Isono says. "I know about Black Friday, and they eat with family in their homes."

Wubneh believes that this lack of knowledge is one of the reasons why it is important for international students to be involved Thanksgiving celebrations.

"International students are not familiar with Thanksgiving because it is a U.S. event," Wubneh said. "It's good for them to know. Many students come here to study and end up getting a job and living here permanently. So they need to understand culture."

Since family is such a large part of Thanksgiving, some students think that it is good for U.S. students to invite the international students to their celebration.

"These students are thousands and thousands of miles away from their home, and Thanksgiving is part of our culture." Miller says, "If I was an exchange student and someone invited me, I would be thankful for it."

At the moment, IPS does not have formal way for students to invite international students to its home for the holidays because it is afraid of pressuring students into an uncomfortable situation. However, IPS hopes that those involved in First Friends will be invited to their family's celebration.

"In an indirect way, that is what we are encouraging," Wubneh says.

Miller agrees that if there was a way for students to volunteer to invite international students to their home, the program would have to be dorm-based because it will make the stay more comfortable for both students.

"Since we live with those exchange students in our dorm we get to know them better," Miller says.

For now, those who want to invite an international student to their home for the holiday should just ask. Odds are that they will appreciate the offer and might return the favor when they return to their home country.  Isono said if she met an American student at her university in Japan, she would now invite them to her house.

"I would teach them about Japanese culture," Isono says. "Also about Japanese food, news, politics. I would teach them everything I know about Japan."