Making Christmas bright for internationals

 

 

 

 

Events scheduled:   WSU’s International Center, located in room 46 in the lower level of the CUB, will hold a holiday cookie decorating party 2-4 p.m. Tuesday, Dec. 20. A free holiday film marathon will run 10 a.m.-4 or 5 p.m. Wednesday, Dec. 21.   For more information on the Friends and Family Program, which matches students with local families to learn about each other’s cultures, call 509-335-4223 or email friends.and.family@wsu.edu.

PULLMAN, Wash. – For several hundred international students who can’t return to their families during Christmas break, Washington State University is home for the holidays. But what are these students to do when there are more squirrels than people on campus?

 
“We want them to feel like our holiday season is their holiday season too,” said Kelsey Hawthorne, WSU’s International Center coordinator who has organized events for students staying behind.

 

For starters, they’ll indulge in a cinematic feast – a free marathon of classic holiday films ranging from “It’s a Wonderful Life” and “A Christmas Carol,” which melt snow in our hearts, to “Elf” and “Home Alone,” which make us laugh, naughty and nice.

It’s not clear how many foreign students will remain here. About half of those who Hawthorne talked to reported that they’ll be leaving the Palouse, either to fly home or see other parts of the U.S.
 
“The other half says they’re staying but that they wish they weren’t,” she said. “Hopefully our holiday events will make it more enjoyable for them.”

 

Besides the movie marathon, students can gather to decorate Christmas cookies on campus or step into a local American home and enjoy a roast turkey, said Hawthorne.

 

Kelsey Hawthorne, WSU International Center coordinator.

Nearly 1,900 students from other countries study at WSU. Most are from China, India and Korea, explained Hawthorne. Numbers are shooting up; there are 200 more students than last year, some from little-heard-of places such as Mauritania and Kyrgyzstan.

 

“We knew we’d have more international students staying here during holiday breaks looking for things to do,” said Hawthorne.

 
So she decided to offer up bigger pieces of American culture. During Thanksgiving break, she threw a pumpkin pie tasting party at WSU’s international center where it smelled like a truckload of pumpkins infused with cloves and nutmeg. The gathering drew 21 students – double what was expected.
 
“Most of them had never tasted pumpkin before,” Hawthorne said. “Even the texture was new for them. It was clear they enjoyed this culinary tradition and that we should offer something similar for Christmas.”

 

 

And what more endearing Christmas culinary tradition than making colorfully iced sugar cookies? The international center recently hosted a decorating party for its Friends and Family program, with a separate decorating get-together scheduled during the holiday break.

 

In a room strung with garland and twinkling lights, Gain Ji, a political science student from Korea, proudly held up a Christmas tree-shaped cookie she had iced and sprinkled.

 

“No, I’ve never done this before. I like it,” she said. Ji, who will stay on campus during the break, plans to attend the next cookie-decorating party as well as the movie marathon. Sprucing up cookies next to her was Jiyoung Park, an English literature student, also from Korea, who said she plans to visit New York City and Washington D.C.

 

Jiyoung and Ji are the “friends” part of WSU’s Friends and Family program. Seated next to them were Bob and Colleen Harvey, who make up the “family” part.

 

The Harveys have played host to international students like Ji and Jiyoung for 30 years, putting on traditional dinners, potlucks and game nights. Talk about a holiday with global fare. For Thanksgiving, they fed 19 students from places such as China, Japan, Saudi Arabia and Taiwan.
 
“There’s so much culture here, and the program gives us an opportunity to see the world through the students,” said Colleen Harvey. “And the students get to see America through us. It’s really a win-win situation.”