When Max Mathias '10 heads home to nearby Sharon, Mass., for Thanksgiving break, he won't be going alone - he will be joined by Brown students who live too far away to go home for just a few days and have been invited to his house for the holiday. "My mom really likes to meet kids from college," he said.
Mathias is not alone in welcoming fellow Brown students to his home for Thanksgiving. Many international students and others who live far from Providence spend Thanksgiving with their friends and classmates.
"Americans coming here open their homes to internationals - they want to show how important the holiday is to them," said Alex Ewencyzk '08, who is French but lives in Thailand and serves as an international mentor for first-years.
Though Thanksgiving is typically associated with sentimental images of thick slices of turkey, globs of cranberry sauce and heaps of Grandma's stuffing, for some Brown students, the holiday isn't just about the dinner.
For many first-year students, the holiday is marked by high school reunions and a return home for the first time since coming to College Hill in September. For upperclassmen, many of whom have grown apart from their high school friends, the holiday is often about getting a break from class and prepping for finals. But for international students it's a chance to experience American culture firsthand.
Taste of AmericaThough he is spending Thanksgiving break with his fellow players on the men's hockey team, Nova Scotia native Scott Vanderlinden '10 is not missing out on anything at home. Thanksgiving in Canada is at the end of October. "Everyone else is still at school or work," he said of his Canadian friends.
"Thanksgiving happened in my family a month ago. They all had dinner, I wasn't there," said West Vancouver native Elizabeth Schibuk '08.
Schibuk said Thanksgiving in Canada is not as family-oriented as it is in the United States.
"It's a little more chill," she said. "It's not as much of an institution as it is here."
For students coming to Brown from other countries, Thanksgiving offers an opportunity to see how Americans celebrate holidays. Many international first-years go home with their roommates for Thanksgiving, Ewencyzk said.
Mara Maracinescu '08, who is from Romania, spent last Thanksgiving at a friend's house in Massachusetts and will head to Connecticut this year.
Maracinescu said the American holiday is different from holidays in Romania. "There was a lot of tension, it felt kind of like a forced family reunion," she said. "In Romania, we eat a lot and drink a lot so there's not as much tension."
Thanksgiving food was also a letdown, Maracinescu said. "I'm not a fan of stuffing or cranberry sauce."
Equally perplexing was the American institution of Thanksgiving football. "I just don't get the whole football thing," she said.
Still, Maracinescu said she enjoyed the opportunity to take a break from classes and see more of America. "It's good to remember that there is something else outside of the Hill," she said.
High school reunions
Ben Rome '10 plans to spend Thanksgiving with his family, but the Vermont town he grew up isn't his only home now. Three months into the school year, Rome said Brown already "feels like home."
"I don't want to linger in high school," he said.
But many first-years will be visiting their high schools over Thanksgiving break to see old teachers and high school friends.
Ayelet Brinn '10 plans to attend a reunion with other members of her high school cross country team and catch the local football game. "There are some people that it would be nice to see," she said.
Others are also planning on catching up with friends from high school. Rachel Cohn '10 said she and her friends are putting together a multicultural Thanksgiving dinner.
First-years having a difficult time adjusting to college life are especially excited about the opportunity to spend time with friends from home.
One student, who asked not to be identified, said she hasn't found a consistent group of friends and is "finding it hard" to adjust to life in college. She said she spends half her time at Brown on the phone with friends from high school. "The hardest part (of college) is not having real friends yet," she said.
She is excited about Thanksgiving because "it'll be like old times."
Sometimes the reunions can be difficult because everyone changes in the first few months of college.
"(At college) everything is so new and so difficult and you probably change - you go home, and it's so different after three months," said Assistant Professor of Sociology Nancy Luke.
Though Mathias is looking forward to spending Thanksgiving break catching up with friends from high school, he expects that many of them will be different.
First-years who spent time away from home before coming to college have even less of a connection to friends at home. After three years playing junior hockey in Saskatchewan before coming to the University, Vanderlinden said it is "hard to relate" to his friends from his home in Nova Scotia.
