More than 75 international students will go home for Thanksgiving this year — go home, that is, with UCLA alumni who have invited them to join their families for the holiday on Thursday.In a new program led by UCLA Alumni Affairs in partnership with the Dashew Center for International Students and Scholars, students from China, India, Australia, South Africa and elsewhere around the globe have eagerly signed on for a taste of the American tradition at the homes of 35 local alumni.
Lily Tsau, Alumni Affairs' senior director of international outreach, came up with the idea as a follow-up to the Dashew Center’s annual Thanksgiving potluck dinner, which hundreds of international students will attend at Bradley Hall on Wednesday.
“The students have a great time all together at the Dashew dinner,” Tsau said. “Now we want to give them the opportunity to go out into the community to meet alumni and other students and enjoy a real, in-home Thanksgiving dinner.”
But not everyone does Thanksgiving the same way, so some students will find themselves seated at formal dinner tables laden with turkey, stuffing and cranberry sauce, while others will partake in more informal traditions. One host family will hold a huge Thanksgiving reunion picnic in a park. Several families will be celebrating what’s been dubbed “Thanksgivukkah,” combining the Thanksgiving and Hanukkah holidays which happen to coincide this year.
Tsau and her husband are looking forward to having four students join their family and friends. “We always have a half-American, half-Chinese Thanksgiving with two turkeys,” she said. “The ‘Chinese’ turkey is stuffed with a seasoned rice recipe.
“It’s just a wonderful way of connecting our alumni with international students, and for students to feel welcome and part of our community,” said Tsau, who added that more students expressed interest than the program is prepared to host this year. Plans are to expand the number of alumni hosts next year.
