Students celebrate the holidays away from home

Whether spending the holiday break in the United States or in a different country, University of South Dakota study abroad and international students spend the time off in their own way when they cannot be home with their families.

Graduate student Jean Paul Akuma’s parents are still in Cameroon, located in west central Africa. He said he is fortunate enough to have many relatives living in the states.

In past years, Akuma said he has gone to Minneapolis to be with his family over the holiday break. He said he helps cook meals and takes part in his native country’s activities, like attending meetings about performing non-profit activity back in Cameroon.

Among many things, Akuma said he misses his country’s local food, fellowship with family and spending time in a traditional Cameroonian community.

He said one year, he did stay in Vermillion, visited friends’ houses for Christmas and played intramural soccer with some buddies. However, since most international students either stay with their host family or travel back home for the break, there was not much going on.

“It’s very, very difficult; everybody’s gone,” Akuma said. “It’s very lonely, but having connections makes it fun.”

He is involved with the International Student Club and said they are working on getting activities planned for students who are not able to go back to their country for the month.

Akuma said he has been living in the U.S. for nine years, and both his sisters live here as well, but he has not been home for the holidays to see his parents since he left in 2003 to go to Ghana.

“I call my mom and we talk almost every day,” he said. “I can call my dad any time I want, so I call him often.”

Junior Ian Williams, an economics major, is studying abroad in Otaru, Japan and said he will get to see his mother over Christmas break.

He said although his mother has been to Mexico and Canada, she has never crossed an ocean.

“You get used to spending holidays with your family and so it’s a little bit tough (when you don’t), but it’s really nice that my mom will be here,” Williams said.

He said he does not have many plans set for the break, but a day trip to Kyoto, Japan or to Mount Fuji could be in the agenda. Williams said he and his mother might visit some temples around Tokyo, do some shopping, but overall, he wants to make sure they really see the city.

“There’s 34 million people, so that should be pretty cool,” he said.

Williams said it is a big thing where he is to take a date to Kentucky Fried Chicken on Christmas, and reservations are typically made two weeks ahead of time. He said he plans to find somewhere else to take his mother, even if there was not a big celebration.

While there may not be snow on the ground in Japan, Williams said he was getting in the Christmas spirit by having a “little bitty” Christmas tree on a shelf in his room.

He said he planned to attend a winter festival in a town about 45 minutes away from the campus with Christmas lights hanging in famous parks.

He said Otaru is similar in population to Sioux Falls, so it was fairly easy to adjust.

Unlike Williams, junior Kelsey Kirby said she would come home over Christmas break. Kirby is studying abroad in Germany for two semesters. She said while the break offered in the winter is only about a week long, she would be back in the United States for three weeks and not attend classes for two weeks.

She did something similar for her Thanksgiving break. Germany does not recognize it as a national holiday, so classes went on as scheduled. Kirby said since she does not have class on Fridays, it was easier for her to take off a few more days to make the weekend a vacation.

Kirby said she went to visit a friend who attends Augustana, but is studying in Brighton, England.

Since her friend’s flatmates had never experienced Thanksgiving before, she said it was fun to make dinner with them and dress up like she would have back home. She said she talked with her family, including her cousins, over Skype while she was eating.

“It was like I was there,” Kirby said. “They all went around the table and said they were thankful for me; it was so cheesy.”

She said they watched the Macy’s Day Parade on TV, which made it seem more like they were back in the U.S.

Kirby said she has already met up with another one of her friends who was in Scotland and said it is fairly easy to visit people who are also overseas studying from the area to find people to remind you of home, when abroad.

She said she has to travel by train to get to the airport if she wants to go anywhere, but in the end, it is worth the time.

“I’m learning the hard way,” Kirby said. “Easy jet and a bunch of cheap airlines and just go for it.”

For the holidays, Kirby said she would make cookies for her Spanish friends so they can decorate them. She said they are planning on having a “family” dinner before she leaves for Christmas break.

“The friends I’ve made here are probably some of the closest I’ve ever had,” she said. “It’s going to be so hard to leave.”

Kirby said she is looking forward to seeing her dogs again because she believes they may think she is gone forever. She also said she plans to grab some taco mix while home in the States, because she can’t find any where she is staying in Germany.

Both study abroad and international students can agree the holiday break will be needed after the long week of finals. The nearly month off will allow time for students to regroup and recharge for the spring semester, whether abroad or here on campus.