国际学生体验感恩节传统

Emilie Jenson, Public Information Office
12/5/2023

感恩节那天，韦伯斯特市历史悠久的简·扬之家（Jane Young House）像任何一个家庭一样，充满了节日活动的热闹气氛——客人们纷纷到来，食物正在烹制，房间里充满了笑声和友好的陪伴声。

今年的感恩节庆祝活动与大多数感恩节庆祝活动略有不同。 作为爱荷华中央社区学院来自世界各地的国际学生，许多客人以前从未体验过这个节日。

The 16 students who took part in the celebration are enrolled in Jessica Butterfield-Bailey’s ESL 265 class at Iowa Central, a course for international students who are not native English speakers.

“We had been talking about Thanksgiving traditions and the break that was coming up in class,” said Butterfield-Bailey. “Most of the students said they’d be spending the week and the holiday in their dorms because they are used to living in countries where it isn’t celebrated. I knew we couldn’t have that. I wanted them to have an opportunity to experience Thanksgiving.”

巴特菲尔德-贝利说，她与家人讨论了这个想法，并考虑在家里举办晚宴。

“I asked my husband, ‘how many people do you think we can fit in the house’ and he said, ‘how many are there, we’ll make it happen,’” she said.

随着计划的展开，另一位ESL老师克里斯·富勒顿（Chris Fullerton）建议在简·杨之家举行宴会。 年轻的房子有一个宽敞的餐厅，为学生和老师提供了充足的空间来享用节日大餐。 爱荷华中心提供了一辆面包车将学生送往韦伯斯特城。 贝利一家提供了火鸡，学生们也享受了传统的自制馅料、红薯和馅饼。

晚餐后，富勒顿带领学生参观了他们的家，在那里学生们了解了肯德尔和简·杨的历史，并参观了二楼的古着展览。 They spent the afternoon playing cards and board games, singing, dancing and socializing with each other and their instructors’ families.

来自肯尼亚的新生运动员埃文斯·基普罗诺（Evans Kiprono）说，他很享受这一天，并负责让每个人都参加活动。

“I saw Jessica’s kids having all the fun, and said ‘come on, we need to join too,’” said Kiprono. “I put on the music, and we were all dancing and playing and having fun being with a family. “The turkey and food were so good. It made everything amazing and a good memory for our first Thanksgiving.”

来自多哥的大一新生塞雷娜·格利（Serena Geli）说，这是她第一次吃火鸡，她很感激这一天的友谊。

“It was nice to be like one family,” she said. “It was a very new experience to me.”

巴特菲尔德-贝利说，她希望感恩节聚会能成为一年一度的传统。

“We’d love to open it to more students and give them more cultural experiences with other holidays as well,” she said.