In the spirit of Valentine’s Day and the Lunar New Year, the Mount Holyoke News decided to explore how international students celebrate their national holidays away from home. The three stories below offer different perspectives on the subject.
Vietnam
by Vi Bui
“Do you feel like Tet is coming?” asked my friend Thu Nguyen ’11 when she showed me her “cherry blossom” branch. It was a dry branch she found near Lower Lake and carefully placed in a china vase with pink paper flowers pasted on it. “I do,” I replied in a shaky voice, as the rising wave of homesickness was about to overflow. Yes, Tet (Lunar New Year) was coming and this is my first Lunar New Year away from home.
If you want to know the nostalgia a Vietnamese feels away from home when the Lunar New Year arrives, try staying on campus during winter break. You remain stuck with having to handle meeting reminders, class registration confirmations and exam announcements. But instead you wish you could help your mom with preparations, especially upon receiving her email: “This year, I had to do all the cleaning alone.” Outside, South Hadley’s freezing wind blew away the memory of Vietnam’s fresh flower market, sunshine dancing on the green leaves and later fireworks chasing one another before the clock strikes twelve.
The conversation at Prospect’s dining table starts revolving around holiday food—banh chung, mut and o mai—and eventually we are discussing a cooking event. “Tet cooking is not something I want to miss,” said Nguyen. Quizzes, tests and assignments of all kinds are put off because Saturday evening has been reserved for all my dear sisters, delicious food and the feeling of home.
China
by Jing Gao
Instead of preparing for my exam on Friday, Feb. 12, I spent my Thursday night searching like a madwoman for phone numbers I forgot to write down before I came to Mount Holyoke. I had to make a list of the people to call for the Chinese New Year. I had the ominous feeling that I would “waste” my entire weekend on endless calls and have to transfer more money into my Skype account. Indeed, my predictions turned out to be true.
On Friday night, when the New Year arrived in China, I sat down in front of my computer after a cup of strong coffee, and logged into my Skype account. As expected, my parents, aunts, uncles and cousins had gathered at my grandparents’ when I called. Each one of them wanted to talk to me but also gave others the opportunity to join in. They said, “I should probably cut this short as your aunts are waiting to talk to you,” but then went on for five more minutes of fast talking before shouting, “Quick, whose turn is it?”
My mom kept repeating that she regretted having let me study abroad as now all her friends were enjoying the New Year celebration with their children but I wasn’t with her. People generally worry that international students have a hard time during their holidays, but parents are the ones who suffer more.
My cousins described how good the food was, a game they started after I once mentioned that American food cannot be compared to Chinese cuisine. The call lasted for more than an hour and was followed by calls to other family members and friends.
Later, when I chatted with some friends online, one of them asked if I had celebrated the New Year in any traditional way. She felt sorry for me when I replied no. But with all those calls and messages, I did have a huge celebration. After all, what really matters in any holiday is the people with whom you celebrate.
Germany
by Marion Messmer
The holiday that is most strongly connected with my family and childhood is Nikolaus (St. Nicholas’ Day) celebrated in Dec. 6. On this day, German children wait with fear and excitement until night comes and St. Nicholas visits their house.
The legend says that he will bring chocolate, oranges, nuts, and small gifts for good children, and bad children will be punished. If the legend is correct, I must have been a good child because I always had something waiting for me.
When I was a kid, my family always hired someone to play St. Nicholas and his helper for my brother and me. Our godparents would come over for dinner and then, it would be time for St. Nicholas to pay a visit. My brother and I would be a little bit anxious, yet full of excitement.
As we got older, we didn’t get a personal visit from St. Nicholas anymore, but mom would make sure that a little treat was waiting for us when we came downstairs for breakfast on Dec. 6—most of the time, it would be a little chocolate St. Nicholas.
This was my first year without a chocolate St. Nicholas and Dec. 6 was also the first day that I felt a bit homesick since joining Mount Holyoke in the fall. The German department had a celebration, but I couldn’t go. It wouldn’t have been the same without my family, anyway.
St. Nicholas will always remind me of my family, no matter where I am. It is a day full of memories and nostalgia, a day that reminds me of my roots. Maybe this year I will be able to celebrate it with my new friends here in the U.S. Everyone wants an excuse to eat candy, after all.
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great post , really good view on the subject and very well written, this certainly has put a spin on my day, many thanks from the USA and sustain up the good work
Jing Gao：We miss you. the good food is for you later.