With the holiday season officially under way, campus is buzzing with talk of Thanksgiving since FMU’s break takes place Nov. 23 through Nov. 27. However, for international exchange students, Thanksgiving is a peculiar holiday.
Ashley Crawford, a freshman biology major from New Zealand, explained his thoughts on the holiday..
“To me, Thanksgiving is a very foreign idea that is only seen in movies,” Crawford said. “Since everyone is going home, I intend to spend it with all the other confused foreigners attempting to create our own Thanksgiving feast.”
For some, the desire to have Thanksgiving is there. Igor Souza, a freshman majoring in marketing, is one of those students.
“I wish we had Thanksgiving in Brazil because it is a good time that you usually spend with your family while eating good food, and this idea really appeals to me,” Souza said.
The tradition of spending time with loved ones holds true for some of the other international students who have family visiting for the break. This is the case with German exchange student Kay Rogers, a senior majoring in business law.
“I am going to Phoenix to meet my parents and then take a trip to Las Vegas,” Rogers said.
While international students at FMU are trying to figure out their plans, FMU students studying abroad this semester are experiencing similar issues.
Ashley Humphries, a junior English major who is currently studying in England, said that she feels that, even while abroad, all the students should meet and share dinner.
“I know before I came over here I fully intended on making an entire Thanksgiving myself and inviting the other Francis Marion students over to celebrate,” Humphries said. “But now, thinking about the logistics of it, I’m not quite sure. So, maybe we could go out to our favorite pub, the Polar Bear, and get some Thanksgiving fish and chips instead.”
Another student in England, senior English major Lavon Davis, also had ideas for the holiday.
“Since Thanksgiving isn’t celebrated here, it’s hard to know exactly what I will do,” Davis said. “Although I will miss spending Thanksgiving with my family this year, eating all of our traditional American entrees, I’m thankful for being allowed this opportunity, and I will celebrate that day by becoming more cultured and trying out a different type of food.”
Students both here and abroad may have a variety of plans, but the tradition of relaxing and eating an abundance of food remains.