Archive >> South BR >> December 2007/January 2008 >> LSU International Students Recall How They Celebrate the Holidays with Their Families
18/Dec/2007
It’s that time of year LSU International Students Recall How They Celebrate the Holidays
By Summer Suleiman
Imagine if your holidays are void of savory home-cooked meals, exchanging of gifts, or heartfelt company of friends and family. For many, that may seem like a thought far beyond reason, but for some students on LSU’s campus it is what the holidays are like.
According to the International Services Office at the university, there are nearly 1,500 international students at LSU that spend their holidays much differently than most students.
For Ziyad Taqieddin, a master’s student in civil engineering, and his wife, Rawan, many of their holidays are not spent at home. “Our celebration for national holidays is traveling,” Ziyad said. With the majority of their family living in Jordan, Ziyad and Rawan like to spend their time exploring other cities in the United States. “One year we celebrated New Year’s downtown in Houston. It was a really good experience,” Ziyad explained.
Although many students across the globe experience the holidays differently, there is one organization on campus that brings together all students, both abroad and at home, to share a common experience. The International Hospitality Foundation is a non-profit organization that was founded in 1960, and its goal is to link the Baton Rouge community and LSU's international students in friendship and intercultural exchange.
Virginia Grenier, executive director of IHF for more than 23 years, said she loves meeting people from all over the world and staying in touch with them long after they leave LSU. “It’s about relationships – the human connection that we can learn and live from,” Grenier said.
IHF helps international students become better acquainted with their new environment and learn more about American culture. One of the programs the organization sponsors each semester is the Loan Closet. It allows international students to borrow household items such as bed linens, kitchen appliances, furniture, and more for a one time membership fee of $2. All items are donated by the Baton Rouge community.
Another program that Virginia operates is the Friendship Family Program, which matches local hosts with international students to visit, share meals and learn about each other’s culture and traditions. Virginia helps facilitate long-time friendships between students and residents living in Baton Rouge. “Today, it is more and more a global society. This is a tremendous learning tool for our children to learn about the world,” Grenier said. Many people do not know about the educational contribution that international students make to LSU. “If it weren’t for many of these students, and their teaching and researching, some departments would not exist,” Grenier said.
Christian Briseno, a master’s student in oceanography, is one of these students. This year, he will not be joining his family in Guadalajara, Mexico, for the holidays because he will be conducting research on carbon presence in water on a cruise from San Diego to the Eastern Islands.
Although he will not be home this year, Briseno has many memories of Christmas spent with his family back home. “On Christmas the children break piñatas made with seven horns. Each horn represents one of the seven deadly sins. The breaking of the piñata symbolizes fighting temptation. The fruit and candy symbolize God’s love and grace,” Briseno said.
While people celebrate different holidays in different ways all over the world, many people fill their holidays the same way: with food, friends and family!
By Summer Suleiman
Imagine if your holidays are void of savory home-cooked meals, exchanging of gifts, or heartfelt company of friends and family. For many, that may seem like a thought far beyond reason, but for some students on LSU’s campus it is what the holidays are like.
According to the International Services Office at the university, there are nearly 1,500 international students at LSU that spend their holidays much differently than most students.
For Ziyad Taqieddin, a master’s student in civil engineering, and his wife, Rawan, many of their holidays are not spent at home. “Our celebration for national holidays is traveling,” Ziyad said. With the majority of their family living in Jordan, Ziyad and Rawan like to spend their time exploring other cities in the United States. “One year we celebrated New Year’s downtown in Houston. It was a really good experience,” Ziyad explained.
Although many students across the globe experience the holidays differently, there is one organization on campus that brings together all students, both abroad and at home, to share a common experience. The International Hospitality Foundation is a non-profit organization that was founded in 1960, and its goal is to link the Baton Rouge community and LSU's international students in friendship and intercultural exchange.
Virginia Grenier, executive director of IHF for more than 23 years, said she loves meeting people from all over the world and staying in touch with them long after they leave LSU. “It’s about relationships – the human connection that we can learn and live from,” Grenier said.
IHF helps international students become better acquainted with their new environment and learn more about American culture. One of the programs the organization sponsors each semester is the Loan Closet. It allows international students to borrow household items such as bed linens, kitchen appliances, furniture, and more for a one time membership fee of $2. All items are donated by the Baton Rouge community.
Another program that Virginia operates is the Friendship Family Program, which matches local hosts with international students to visit, share meals and learn about each other’s culture and traditions. Virginia helps facilitate long-time friendships between students and residents living in Baton Rouge. “Today, it is more and more a global society. This is a tremendous learning tool for our children to learn about the world,” Grenier said. Many people do not know about the educational contribution that international students make to LSU. “If it weren’t for many of these students, and their teaching and researching, some departments would not exist,” Grenier said.
Christian Briseno, a master’s student in oceanography, is one of these students. This year, he will not be joining his family in Guadalajara, Mexico, for the holidays because he will be conducting research on carbon presence in water on a cruise from San Diego to the Eastern Islands.
Although he will not be home this year, Briseno has many memories of Christmas spent with his family back home. “On Christmas the children break piñatas made with seven horns. Each horn represents one of the seven deadly sins. The breaking of the piñata symbolizes fighting temptation. The fruit and candy symbolize God’s love and grace,” Briseno said.
While people celebrate different holidays in different ways all over the world, many people fill their holidays the same way: with food, friends and family!
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