What many students might look forward to the most about the holidays is traveling home, but for some international students at Baker University, spending the break with their families is out of the question.
Michael Angarita is a junior from Colombia. Angarita said he did not go home over Thanksgiving break because they do not celebrate Thanksgiving in Colombia; rather, they have a holy week in May. Even so, Angarita said he is familiar with the American holiday.
“I have celebrated Thanksgiving with my American friends before for many years,” he said. “I know there’s a lot of eating and watching TV.”
He said he plans to go to Colombia in December where he hopes to complete an internship in exporting emeralds during his Christmas break.
Angarita said Christmas traditions in Colombia are similar to American traditions.
“We do the Christmas tree, lights and we build Jerusalem to decorate,” Angarita said. “We also sing the nine days before Christmas starts, and we get together and pray every night. All the families do this in Colombia.”
Angarita said his family puts Jesus in the cradle at midnight on Dec. 25 to represent his birth.
Senior Michal Ciszewski, from Poland, said he has not been home for the holidays in five years. He said he didn’t travel anywhere on Thanksgiving break this year.
“I’m going to get like a turkey sub, and that’s going to be my Thanksgiving,” Ciszewski said.
He said he is planning to visit his sister in Nebraska over Christmas break. He said at his sister’s house, they celebrate Christmas with Polish traditions.
“Christmas dinner is different (in Poland); there’s 14 different dishes. There’s no meat for dinner; we eat fish,” Ciszewski said.
Ryan McAloon, a junior from Scotland, and Gerard Grehan, a junior from Ireland, are both new players on Baker’s men’s soccer team. Both went home with a teammate to Lee’s Summit, Mo., over Thanksgiving break.
“It’s so expensive for a flight back home,” McAloon said.
McAloon and Grehan said holiday traditions in the United States are basically the same as the traditions in their countries with only a few minor differences.
McAloon said in Scotland they have a get-together with family members the day after Christmas, better known as “Boxing Day.”
Grehan said he, too, celebrates the day after Christmas in Ireland where the holiday is known as “St. Steven’s Day.” He added that Christmas day in Ireland is more for immediate family, while the day after Christmas is more of a reunion with all of the family members. Grehan is not sure if he will be going home for Christmas break this year.
“I will find out by the first. I really want to go home, though, so I really need to get a flight,” Grehan said.
Not seeing their families over the holidays is easier for some than others.
“My first year it was hard, but I kind of got used to it,” McAloon said.