The holidays are almost here and most University of Colorado students are already home helping their families prepare for Thanksgiving dinner or getting ready to watch some football.
Because Thanksgiving is an American holiday, most international students have never experienced the tradition for themselves. But a local program — Boulder Friends of International Students — pairs volunteer host families with international students looking for a traditional holiday experience.
This year, 14 host families have invited international students into their homes this Thanksgiving.
“I’ve been doing this on and off for about 30 years now,” said Michael Grant, CU’s associate vice chancellor of undergraduate education. “We’ve hosted both international and domestic students over the years. I just think there are a lot of students here without family and I thought they would enjoy being fed and having a place to go during the holidays.”
Grant, along with his son and sister, will be hosting a married couple from Saudi Arabia this year. CU senior Fadi Almazyad and his wife, CU sophomore Nouf Alhenaky, said they’re excited to experience their first traditional Thanksgiving.
“We read a lot about American culture and see it on TV, but it’s so much better to get to experience it in person,” Almazyad said. “We’re excited for some turkey, which is something we don’t really eat at home.”
Kate Spencer, matching coordinator for the program, said 20 international students were looking for a Thanksgiving experience this year and all of them were paired with a host family.
“We had an overwhelming response from Boulder families this year … and were able to accommodate everyone,” Spencer said.
With only a week off, many international students don’t have the time or the money to go home. So they’ve found a few alternatives to keep them busy during the holiday break.
CU senior Moe Alkhawaja said he couldn’t afford to travel home to Jordan over Thanksgiving break even if he did have the time.
“Between the flight and being back for classes on Monday it’s not really worth the trip right now,” Alkhawaja said. “I wouldn’t get much time with family even if I did go.”
So Alkhawaja said he’s planning on staying in Boulder and doing a whole lot of nothing.
“I’m going to relax and take a break from school work,” Alkhawaja said. “I will get some rest and be ready to finish finals and everything else.”
Alkhawaja said he plans to travel to San Francisco during winter break if he has enough money for a plane ticket. And he’s not the only student trying to get some travel time in during the holidays.
CU senior Daniel Sayle has only been in the United States since August when he left his home in London to study geography in Boulder.
Sayle is only in the United States until June, so he’s using every break he gets to travel the country and see the sites.
“We’re headed to the West Coast this week,” Sayle said. “We’re even missing a few classes the week school starts back, but it’s worth it since my time is so limited.”
Sayle, another CU international student and an American student flew to Las Vegas on Saturday to start their 11-day trip along the coast. They’ll visit Los Angeles, San Diego, San Francisco and Seattle before returning to Boulder on Tuesday.
But Sayle didn’t miss out on Thanksgiving despite his trip. His host family planned an early Thanksgiving meal for Sayle and 10 other international students for a pre-holiday feast.
Thanksgiving is similar to Christmas in London, Sayle said — a large gathering of family and friends around a shared meal. Since he was able to grab some turkey early this year, Sayle said he’s getting the best of both worlds with a less-than traditional Thanksgiving and experience American culture outside of the holidays.
