Many international students are taking advantage of the Thanksgiving holiday to travel around the United States. Others hope to experience a traditional Thanksgiving with their host families or OU Cousins, or are using the time to study or relax.
"A lot of [international students] are travelling to other states," said Tina Henderson, staff assistant in the study abroad office. "Some are staying here and studying."
Sophie Goutet, international student from France, said most international students are traveling over the break.
"In France, we've got much more holiday," Goutet said. "There's not so much break here, so this is a good time to travel."
Goutet said she had to choose between spending the break with her host family or visiting other states.
"I would really like to be here and have a Thanksgiving dinner with my host family, but I want to travel because I am only here for one year," Goutet said.
Goutet and three friends will rent a car and drive to New Orleans, La., and Memphis, Tenn., she said.
Hiromi Nambara, international student from Japan, said she will balance travel and study by completing her homework while out of state.
For the holidays, Nambara will travel by bus to Missouri to visit an American friend and hopes to write a paper during the visit, she said.
Celine Bechonnet, international student from France, will spend the holidays in Houston at the home of one of her American friends, she said.
"There will be a real Thanksgiving meal with turkey and everything," Bechonnet said. "I really want to experience a traditional American Thanksgiving. A lot of people told me that I need to be with a family over the holidays because [Thanksgiving] is a family holiday."
While many international students are traveling over the break, Dany Da Silva, international student from France, said he prefers to visit other states over Christmas break when there is more time. He and three of his friends will spend the break in Norman, he said.
"We are going to relax a lot, watch movies, and on Thanksgiving, we are going to stuff a turkey," Da Silva said.
hello there & you too
The Oklahoma Daily is pleased to provide you the opportunity to share your thoughts about this article. We encourage lively debate on the issues of the day, but we ask you refrain from using profanity or other offensive speech, engaging in personal attacks or name-calling, posting advertising, or straying from the topic at hand. To comment, you must be a registered user of OUDaily.com. Thanks for taking the time to offer your thoughts.
You must be logged in to leave a comment. Log in | Register