Holiday impressions from near and far

evada, Mo. -- A lot of family, big dinner and turkey -- these are the things American Thanksgiving is known for to foreigners. This is the image of the holiday created nowadays by media news, Hollywood movies and English textbooks all around the world.

This year, Cottey College has become a home for 18 students from eight countries. Some of them have already celebrated Thanksgiving during previous years in the United States; but a lot of them will experience this holiday for the first time, next week. None of the represented countries has a holiday that resembles Thanksgiving.

Some international students are lucky enough to have host families among the Nevada community. Daniela Manolova, a second year student from Bulgaria, has warm memories about last year's Thanksgiving, spent with Ted and Candice Moore. Everything was the way she expected it to be -- family gathering, nice dinner, traditional turkey. Manolova says that the thing that she liked the most was "good food," especially the sweet potatoes that she has never had before. The thing that she didn't like? "The amount of food." The holiday itself doesn't really mean anything personally to her, but Manolova respects it being the part of American history.

Another second-year student from Bulgaria, Maria Ivanova, also thinks this is a great tradition. At her first Thanksgiving, Ivanova was a guest at the friend's house. "I remember hearing stories of the enormous quantities of food people get to consume at that day. True, the table was full of multiple delicious temptations, but I think I managed not to fill my belly to its bursting limits," told Ivanova smiling.

Nevada citizens Sarah and Terry Compton usually invite Cottey students to join them for Thanksgiving. Last year, Tapiwa Sigauke, second year student from Zimbabwe, was glad to share the family dinner with Comptons. Prior to coming to the United States, Sigauke had heard that there was such an American holiday as Thanksgiving, but she never knew what it was about. Only this year, she admits, did she learn of the holiday's origins relating to a harvest feast shared with the Indians.

"I thought the holiday was about being thankful to God in general for the good year, for your achievements -- maybe some kind of religious holiday. This made sense to me, because we don't celebrate it in Zimbabwe," told Sigauke.

According to Sigauke, the holiday itself doesn't mean much personally to her, because she is not American. But she is looking forward to it, because "even though I know the story now, I will stick to the idea of being thankful to God for the opportunity I have getting an education in the U.S."

Some international students were exchange students at high schools before coming to Nevada. They experienced Thanksgiving in other states of the country and have found that the holiday was celebrated the same way in different parts of the United States. Ying Kau, first year student from Hong Kong, spent her last Thanksgiving in Wisconsin. Kau liked the idea of the holiday, however, "I didn't really enjoy the food. There was a lot of food on the table, but I liked only some of it. In Hong Kong, we have different food and a different way of cooking it."

Three years ago, Alla Pivniak, a first-year student from Ukraine, was studying as an exchange student in Kailua, Hawaii. She had always imagined Thanksgiving as an important family holiday, for which all the family prepares together.

"Pumpkin pie -- this is the image I had for this traditional holiday,"said Pivnyak.

"It was even better than I expected," told Pivnyak, "I understood I was a part of the family."

The way she understood it was quite interesting. "In the morning, me and my two host brothers got yelled at for breaking one beautiful chinaware and setting up wrong knives for the steak. But I liked this, because I was treated like the other two children, so I felt being an equal member of the family," said Pivnyak, smiling.

It was a great holiday for her, and she believes it will be wonderful this year, too. She is going to spend it with her host family in Nevada, Alison and Rick Fast.

"I am looking forward to this holiday, because for me it will mean being home far away from home. I will be in a circle of friendly family. And I am grateful that people are generous to offer me spend this time with them," said Pivnyak.

Mareme Kaloga, sophomore from France, is going to spend her first Thanksgiving in Kansas City with her friend's family. Her French friend, also a second-year student at Cottey, Constance de Marnhac, is also invited to join a friend's family. The women say French people don't know much about Thanksgiving. However de Marnhac mentioned she heard about the holiday a long time ago "through history class and 'The Addams Family' movie."

According to Kaloga, she has many things about which to be thankful. "I am quite lucky. Good things happen to me. I didn't experience war or famine, for example. I am thankful I have an experience studying in the U.S. college."

De Marnhac is looking forward to celebrating the holiday. She is thankful "for Amercian hospitality."

Students staying on campus for Thanksgiving become a big family and have dinner cooked by the food service workers. Dinner contains all the traditional holiday food. Some international students are simply glad there's a holiday, regardless of the idea behind it. Huan Xu, first year student from China, and Dorji Dema, first year student from Butan, are glad they will have some days off, when they can spend time with their friends, travel to Kansas City, and enjoy good food.

Yukako Suyama, a first-year student from Japan, will experience her first Thanksgiving this year. She admitted she still doesn't know anything about the holiday. Both second-year students from Japan, Maya Yoshida nad Maki Matsuoka, were not surprised by this fact. According to them, they didn't know that such a holiday exists before they came to the United States.

Despite the fact that Thanksgiving is not a Japanese tradition, Suyama thinks it is nice to be thankful. "I am thankful for holidays, for being able to come to Cottey so that I can learn English and I am thankful that I have made a lot of friends. I am also thankful to be able to play the piano."