The fourth Thursday in November is known as a day full of food, family, football and parades, and during Ohio University’s first semester in decades, international students will have a chance to join the festivities.
“In the past, it didn’t make sense to do something like (the Thanksgiving feast),”? said Francis McFadden, an assistant professor in nutrition and the head chef at the Atrium Café in Grover Center. “So, I thought … ‘International students are probably not flying back (home) for the weekend, so ... it would be worth doing this year.’”
The College of Health Sciences and Professions is funding the first Thanksgiving dinner for about 50 international students, McFadden said, although the cost is not yet known McFadden and café manager Jonnette Frost organized the event, along with a group of students who are concentrating on nutrition studies.
“I think we will be able to give (international students) that welcome feeling so they feel that they matter and are important,” Frost said.
Though Emmanuelle Assy, a second-year graduate student from Southern Africa studying international development, and Anus Bin-bashr, a junior from Dubai studying geographic information systems, will not be attending the event, they said, they understand the importance of experiencing the American holiday.
Celebrating Thanksgiving for the second time in the states, Bin-bashr is planning to head to New York City with a friend and might attend the annual Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade.
“(Thanksgiving) is like a celebration we have back home,” Bin-bashr said. “I don’t know much, but I do know that you meet your family and talk and eat. I feel like (Thanksgiving) is OK. It’s always a good thing to spend time with family.”
Assy will also be celebrating her second Thanksgiving in the U.S. with an American family living outside Columbus. Assy said she noticed a number of similarities and differences while celebrating the holiday, including the emphasis on family and the chaos of Black Friday.
“I’m from a country where family is also important,” she said. “The only thing that is different is the shopping and the crazy Black Friday — that’s new to me.”
lf328610@ohiou.edu
