Local Toledo families host international students for Thanksgiving festivities

Your family can invite international students to Thanksgiving dinner next week as part of the fifth consecutive year of a hosting program sponsored by the University of Toledo Center for International Studies and Programs.

Anyone in the Toledo community can volunteer to become a host family, according to Xinren Yu, coordinator of the program and graduate assistant at CISP. He said host families usually accommodate two international students, but that number varies depending on how many people they’re willing to have.

Yu said the purpose of the program is to provide new experiences for both the host families and the international students.

“Usually this is an American festival, 100 percent traditional,” Yu said. “You usually spend this time with your family. But if you have an international student joining the Thanksgiving dinner, it will bring some diversity, bring something that you wouldn’t have before.”

This program can also serve as a learning opportunity for the host families, according to Yu. Guests can share their own personal traditions and cultural celebrations from their home countries.

“The program opens up a new perspective for the domestic people who get involved,” Yu said. “But on the international students’ side … it’s a pretty unique experience for them. It’s really American, so for them it’s a great learning opportunity as well and to get involved in the domestic culture.”

Yu said he’s been able to see the program grow over the years because each year more and more students and families participate. Yu said there were around 7 or 8 families signed up last year with about 15 students. This year there are around 10-15 families signed up and over 30 students.

Yu thinks international students will really appreciate the inclusive environment of a family. He said it can be pretty lonely during the holidays if they don’t have any family in the area.

Cheryl Thomas, executive assistant for CISP, has been participating as a host for the program for several years. She said including international students gives her a renewed excitement for the holiday.

“We just take things for granted here, so it’s like Thanksgiving comes and goes every year and this is something they have maybe never experienced before so they’re really excited, so it gives us and our families a renewed excitement for the holiday … and just kind of pull them into our family and make them feel a part of it,” Thomas said.

Sara Clark, director of the Global Engagement and American Language Institute, has also participated in the program as a host. She feels strongly about not letting international students feel lonely during the holidays.

“It’s great for the students because they need to be connected. That’s a lonely day on campus; none of us are here and they’re still here. They’re in their residence halls or in their apartments and they’re alone. So it’s a great time for us to open up our homes,” Clark said.

The excitement factor and the opportunity to learn also plays a major role for Clark and her family.

“It’s exciting. I have young children and they know that every Thanksgiving there’s going to be some international people at the table that they get to learn from, so it’s great for our little people too,” Clark said.

Clark said the international students love to cook with the families since a traditional Thanksgiving meal is so different from what they cook at home.

“So that has been really fun; there’s been a lot of laughs in the kitchen about, ‘you’re doing what with this vegetable? You don’t eat it like that!’”

Thomas has a full house each Thanksgiving, with 12 students sitting around the table every year. Hosting students has become as important to her Thanksgiving as any other tradition.

“It touches your heart and my family loves it and we’re excited to do it every year,” Thomas said.

Navindi Sandali Weerasinghe, a second-year majoring in biology and president of the International Student Association, participated in the program last year.

“I think CISP and both ISA are working together to knit the international students into a more closer circle and I can definitely see improvement and development on that,” Weerasinghe said. “I think it’s a great opportunity for the international students to learn about American culture and actually adopt it. I think it definitely opens doors to a lot of opportunities.”

Last Thanksgiving was Weerasinghe’s first time trying turkey. Before that, she was a self-professed “chickentarian.”

“Coming from Sri Lanka, it definitely is something new for me, this whole concept of Thanksgiving and sharing food on a big table on one day. At home we don’t do it and I thank UT for opening doors for this opportunity for me,” Weerasinghe said.

For international students or American families interested in participating in the Thanksgiving dinner program, the deadline to register is Thursday, Nov. 19.

For more information, visit utoledo.edu/cisp/thanksgiving or contact Yu via email at [email protected] or by phone at 419-530-4438.