International students get a taste of Thanksgiving traditions

Over Thanksgiving break, members of our faculty and staff had the opportunity to share their holiday traditions with our international students. The students had expressed interest in experiencing an American Thanksgiving – from helping cook and prepare meals to joining in for all the good eats.

Julia Yaklich, St. Bede’s Director of Mission Advancement and Major Gifts, spent her Thanksgiving with Guatemalan students Luis Monroy, a sophomore, and Adriana Perez, a junior.  They spent the day at Julia’s son’s home, Jon Yaklich ’17, in Mahomet, IL. Julia said they had a nice ride down from St. Bede and spoke about their families and Guatemala. She went through what the typical Thanksgiving meal consists of and the students were especially excited for turkey. They had a great time carving it and did a fine job, Yaklich said. They enjoyed a traditional Thanksgiving meal with turkey, sweet potatoes, green bean casserole, pumpkin cheesecake and an attempt at a pecan pie on the grill, which didn’t turn out as well as they hope, but they all got a great laugh out of it.

Dan Fitzpatrick, St. Bede Science Teacher, took home Chinese students Viola Ren, a sophomore, and Gordon Chen, a junior, and Ukrainian student, Mark Rudenko, a sophomore. They took part in the Fitzpatrick traditions by helping carve turkey and cook side dishes, and also enjoyed enriching conversations. Following dinner, the students joined the family on their traditional walk on the farm where they took part in making cider.

Fitzpatrick said students were surprised by the abundance and diversity of foods in their household. At the Fitzpatrick household, Thanksgiving dinner featured wild foods, such as smoked venison, offering students unique flavors. The students said their favorite foods were turkey and Fitzpatrick’s mother’s meatballs.

Glenda Smith, St. Bede History Teacher, took home Vietnamese student Lin Lee, a junior, and Mexican student Beatriz Vasquez, a junior. Both girls enjoyed meeting the family cat, Stormi, and getting to know the Smith family. They watched the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade on TV with the family while Glenda finished cooking dinner. They were part of the family’s 10-members at the dinner table.

The girls didn’t hesitate to try the dishes and even enjoyed pie for dessert.

“They were happy to participate in our celebration. I think I heard (from the kitchen) some of my family members asking them questions about holidays and traditions they have back home and how they celebrate them and they were happy to share,” Smith said. “They were really surprised about the number of rooms we have in our house … What surprised them the most was that we have an iguana who lives in the bathroom of the guest bathroom upstairs during the winter. I am not sure either of them had ever seen an iguana before.”