Even though State feels like a second home, Happy Valley doesn’t even compare to actually being home. The kids from PA, NJ, NY, MD, etc all rejoice about finally being able to see their dogs, their friends and most importantly their family. For international kids, the wait goes until the end of the semester. And if these students are not visiting with their friends, these students are most likely stuck in a ghost town in the middle of nowhere.
“I hate staying at Penn State when everyone else is gone. I wish I could celebrate a real Thanksgiving,” Nada Aljassim says. Nada is a junior and a Nutrition major.
To kids from the US of A, Thanksgiving is the one time a year where no one judges you for eating as much as you do, acknowledging what you are grateful for and spending time with friends and family. It’s filled with pumpkins, cornucopias, pies, bread stuffing and not to mention one hell of a turkey. But chances are, most of the international kids have never celebrated Thanksgiving at home.
So here’s a quick guide of how to have yourself a joyful little holiday!
1. Get your friends!
If you’re an international student, you most likely know a bunch of other people from your country that aren’t going home or to friend’s houses, so don’t spend the holiday alone this year!
2. Eat an early dinner at the Corner Room
The Corner Room does Thanksgiving right by relieving you of the hassle of cooking and putting on a Thanksgiving Buffet. This year’s menu is on The Corner Room’s Facebook page. But to give you a little heads up there will be Roasted Turkey, turkey gravy, cornbread and traditional stuffing, whipped potatoes, cranberry sauce and so much more. The Corner Room is open from 11am to 6pm so get to dinner early! And don’t forget to share what you’re thankful for!
3. Pumpkin Pie, Apple Pie, Pecan Pie just eat Pie
You can pick up a pie from Wegman’s the morning of and share it at home while watching movies! ABC Family usually has a good movie on every year.
4. Enjoy yourself! No studying! Just Eating
Since you’ll be in a ghost town all of this week, there’s probably nothing to do except start studying for finals. But on Thanksgiving, there’s never a book in sight unless it’s a cookbook.
5. Get ready to shop for black Friday!
This step is pretty self-explanatory, so whip out your wallets and head over to the Nittany Mall. Now I know choices are limited but deals are deals.
If you and your friends are really ambitious and want to cook dinner, prepare ahead of time. Google is the new cookbook. Any recipe you could possibly want to try is on the Internet! So have a little fun and eat up!
Have a Happy Thanksgiving from Valley!
