International Students in US Experience American Holidays

International Students in US Experience American Holidays

美国的国际学生体验美国的节日

【原文听力】

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　　By Gena Bennett and Dan Friedell

　　02 December 2023

　　Researchers report that more than one million foreign students attended college or university in the United States last year. The data comes from the government-supported study called Open Doors Report on International Educational Exchange.

　　Nearly one-third of those students were studying in the U.S. for the first time.

　　Just as they are getting comfortable with their classes, classmates, professors and speaking English full-time, school stops for three major American holidays: Thanksgiving, Christmas and New Year's.

　　What do students do when their routine gets interrupted? VOA Learning English recently spoke with a number of international students to find out.

　　Thanksgiving

　　Most universities take a short break so students can celebrate Thanksgiving, which falls on the fourth Thursday of November.

　　American students leave school for four or five days to spend time with their families. But international students do not often have the money to travel home during breaks, so they find themselves on an empty campus.

　　Lucky ones, however, get to experience the holidays with Americans. Aimee Sanata is from the Dominican Republic. She is studying at the English Language Center at Old Dominion University in Norfolk, Virginia.

　　Sanata celebrated the holiday with her boyfriend's family. Before the break, she watched some videos on YouTube to learn about the history of the holiday.

　　"The videos are created for children, so there they explain everything clearly so that anybody can understand it," she said.

　　First taste of turkey

　　Many international students say they are excited to celebrate an American Thanksgiving because they have never tasted turkey. Turkeys are large birds mostly raised on farms. Some can weigh more than 10 kilograms. They can take three to five hours to cook.

　　Sarah Mannix is one of the English instructors at Old Dominion University. She knows it can be difficult for students to find something to do during school breaks. So Mannix invited a number of her students to celebrate Thanksgiving with her.

　　"They were all really excited when we took the turkey out of the oven because they had never seen cooked turkey before," she said. "Overall, I think they enjoyed it."

　　In fact, one student has been in the U.S. for six years, but had never tried Thanksgiving turkey before this year.

　　Victoria Stepanyants grew up in Russia and the Mediterranean island of Cyprus. She studied at Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore, Maryland and is now in medical school in Cleveland, Ohio. So she has a lot of experience with the school holiday breaks.

　　She often spent Thanksgiving with other international students and friends. They did not usually prepare traditional foods. But this year was different.

　　"That was actually the first time that I've been to Thanksgiving, where the food was, like, ‘Thanksgiving food,'" Stepanyants said. "It was the food I expected to see based on the way the media covers American Thanksgiving."

　　International students are not just at universities. Sofia Montanari is from Bologna, Italy and is in high school in the Midwestern state of Missouri. She said she knows sharing meals are a good way to connect with new people. So she brought food from Italy to the Thanksgiving she spent with an American family.

　　"I really like (the idea) that they show me some of their culture and I show some of mine back," she said.

　　One part of the Thanksgiving culture she enjoyed was the idea of giving thanks. People often talk about what they are thankful for before the Thanksgiving meal.

　　"It's always good to be thankful for what you have," she said.

　　Long breaks, dark and cold days

　　After Thanksgiving, students get back to school to attend classes and take exams, but about three weeks later, another break starts. Most schools close from mid-December until the last week of January.

　　That long period was hard, at first, for Stepanyants. Cyprus has a warmer climate. She said the island has over 300 sunny days per year. Her experience in the U.S. was very different.

　　"As soon as it hit October, November," she said, "the sunlight is gone. It gets colder. I think it's automatically depressing for anyone who is not used to it."

　　For international students, she said, it is important to maintain a regular schedule and spend time with people.

　　International students should speak up if they are concerned about being lonely during school breaks. For Stepanyants, such discussions came naturally as she got to know other international students. At that point, they would make plans to spend time together during the breaks.

　　When she lived in Baltimore, she would take day trips with other international students to nearby cities such as Washington, D.C. and Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.

　　Sometimes, Stepanyants said, the breaks can be boring. But if students talk about their concerns they can make plans.

　　"If you have other international student friends, it's good to just bring it up because they end up in a similar situation then actually, like, the long breaks can be a lot of fun."

　　At Miami University in Oxford, Ohio, the campus is closed during the last week of December. But international students are permitted to stay in their rooms during the winter break.

　　Dan Sinetar is a part of the staff that works to help international students feel at ease. He said people who live close to the university can take part in a program to make tasty "holiday treats" for international students.

　　Students who are staying at the university during the break can also take short winter term classes.

　　Stepanyants said, students should be sure to talk with someone at their university's international student office about activities for the holidays such as Christmas and New Year's during the long breaks.

　　"For example, at my school, they would sometimes do whole celebrations that international students could come to and just like have events over the long breaks for people to not feel super isolated, which was nice."

　　Visitors from home and trips to see family

　　Students at Montanari's school are not permitted to stay on the campus during Christmas break. They have to make other plans. Last year, her parents came to visit the U.S. for two weeks. They visited New York and Washington, D.C. together. They also spent some time in the town where Sofia attends school.

　　The rest of the break Sofia spent with a host family.

　　Stepanyants, the medical student, has a younger sister who is attending college in the U.S. In recent years, they have been able to see each other during breaks, which makes them both feel better and less lonely.

　　Other students do make it back home. Sanata is traveling to the Dominican Republic for Christmas break because her brother is getting married. She is thankful because she misses her family so much. She said she also misses speaking Spanish.

　　For students who cannot get home, they try to stay connected to family. New Year's is the most important winter holiday for Stepanyants. When she could not get home, she would have meals with her family by video call after cooking traditional foods.

　　"It's a very huge meal that you cook all day. And presents happen on New Year's too. Then, there are fireworks," she said.

　　I'm Dan Friedell. And I'm Gena Bennett.

　　Gena Bennett and Dan Friedell wrote this story for Learning English.

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　　由Gena Bennett和Dan Friedell撰写

　　2023年12月2日

　　研究人员报告称，去年有超过一百万的外国学生在美国的大学或者学院就读。这些数据来自于政府支持的名为《国际教育交流开放门户报告》的研究。

　　近三分之一的学生是第一次在美国学习。

　　就在他们开始适应课程、同学、教授以及全英语的学习环境时，学校因为三个主要的美国节日：感恩节、圣诞节和新年而停课。

　　当他们的日常生活被打断时，学生们会做什么呢？VOA学习英语最近采访了一些国际学生以了解情况。

　　感恩节

　　大多数大学会放一个短暂的假期，让学生们可以庆祝感恩节，这个节日在每年的11月的第四个星期四。

　　美国学生会离开学校四五天，和家人共度时光。但是，国际学生通常没有足够的钱在假期期间回家，所以他们发现自己在一个空荡荡的校园里。

　　然而，幸运的是，有些人有机会和美国人一起体验这些节日。Aimee Sanata来自多米尼加共和国。她正在弗吉尼亚州诺福克的奥尔德米尼恩大学的英语语言中心学习。

　　Sanata和她男朋友的家人一起庆祝了这个节日。在假期之前，她在YouTube上看了一些视频，了解这个节日的历史。

　　"这些视频是为儿童制作的，所以他们会清楚地解释一切，这样任何人都能理解，"她说。

　　第一次尝试火鸡

　　许多国际学生表示，他们很期待庆祝美国的感恩节，因为他们从未尝过火鸡。火鸡是大型鸟类，主要在农场上饲养。有些火鸡的体重可以超过10公斤。烹饪火鸡可能需要三到五个小时。

　　Sarah Mannix是奥尔德米尼恩大学的一名英语教师。她知道学生们在学校放假期间找到事情做可能会很困难。所以，Mannix邀请了一些她的学生和她一起庆祝感恩节。

　　"当我们把火鸡从烤箱里拿出来的时候，他们都非常兴奋，因为他们以前从未见过烤火鸡，"她说。"总的来说，我认为他们很喜欢这个经历。"

　　事实上，有一个学生已经在美国生活了六年，但是在今年之前从未尝过感恩节的火鸡。

　　Victoria Stepanyants在俄罗斯和地中海的塞浦路斯岛长大。她在马里兰州巴尔的摩的约翰霍普金斯大学学习，并现在在俄亥俄州克利夫兰的医学院就读。所以她对学校的假期有很多经验。

　　她通常和其他的国际学生以及朋友们一起度过感恩节。他们通常不会准备传统的食物。但是今年不同。

　　"这实际上是我第一次参加感恩节，那里的食物就像是‘感恩节的食物’，"Stepanyants说。"这是我根据媒体对美国感恩节的报道，期待看到的食物。"

　　国际学生不仅仅在大学里。Sofia Montanari来自意大利的博洛尼亚，现在在美国中西部的密苏里州上高中。她说她知道分享餐食是与新人建立联系的好方法。所以她把来自意大利的食物带到了和一个美国家庭一起度过的感恩节。

　　"我真的很喜欢他们向我展示一些他们的文化，我也回馈一些我的文化，"她说。

　　她喜欢的感恩节文化的一部分是感恩的想法。人们在感恩节的餐前经常会谈论他们感恩的事情。

　　"对你所拥有的一切心怀感激总是好的，"她说。

　　长假期，黑暗和寒冷的日子

　　感恩节过后，学生们回到学校上课和考试，但是大约三周后，又开始了另一个假期。大多数学校从12月中旬关闭，直到1月的最后一周。

　　对于Stepanyants来说，最初的那段长时间是很困难的。塞浦路斯有一个更温暖的气候。她说，这个岛屿一年有超过300个阳光明媚的日子。她在美国的经历非常不同。

　　"一到十月、十一月，"她说，"阳光就消失了。天气变得更冷。我认为对于任何不习惯这种情况的人来说，这都会自动让人感到沮丧。"

　　对于国际学生来说，她说，保持规律的生活和与人交往是很重要的。

　　如果国际学生担心在学校放假期间会感到孤独，他们应该说出来。对于Stepanyants来说，随着她认识了其他的国际学生，这样的讨论自然而然就会发生。那时，他们会计划在假期期间一起度过。

　　当她住在巴尔的摩的时候，她会和其他的国际学生一起去附近的城市，如华盛顿特区和宾夕法尼亚州的费城，进行一日游。

　　有时候，Stepanyants说，假期可能会很无聊。但是如果学生们谈论他们的担忧，他们就可以制定计划。

　　"如果你有其他的国际学生朋友，提出这个问题是很好的，因为他们最终会处于类似的情况，实际上，像这样的长假期可能会很有趣。"

　　在俄亥俄州牛津的迈阿密大学，校园在十二月的最后一周关闭。但是，国际学生在寒假期间被允许留在他们的宿舍。

　　Dan Sinetar是帮助国际学生感到舒适的工作人员的一员。他说，住在大学附近的人可以参加一个项目，为国际学生制作美味的"节日美食"。

　　在假期期间留在大学的学生也可以参加短期的冬季课程。

　　Stepanyants说，学生们应该确保与他们大学的国际学生办公室的某个人讨论一下在长假期间，如圣诞节和新年的活动。

　　"例如，在我的学校，他们有时会举行整个庆祝活动，国际学生可以参加，就像在长假期间为人们举办活动，让人们不会感到非常孤立，这是很好的。"

　　来自家乡的访客和去看望家人，

　　Montanari的学校的学生在圣诞假期期间不允许留在校园。他们必须做其他的计划。去年，她的父母来美国访问了两周。他们一起参观了纽约和华盛顿特区。他们也在Sofia上学的城镇里度过了一些时间。

　　假期的其余时间，Sofia是和寄宿家庭一起度过的。

　　那位医学生Stepanyants，她有一个正在美国上大学的妹妹。近年来，他们能够在假期期间见面，这让他们都感到更好，不那么孤独。

　　其他的学生确实能回家。Sanata计划在圣诞假期期间回到多米尼加共和国，因为她的哥哥要结婚。她感到非常感激，因为她非常想念她的家人。她说她也很想念说西班牙语。

　　对于不能回家的学生，他们试图与家人保持联系。新年是Stepanyants最重要的冬季节日。当她不能回家时，她会在烹饪传统食物后通过视频通话与家人共进餐。

　　"这是一顿你需要整天烹饪的大餐。新年也会有礼物。然后，还有烟花，"她说。

　　我是Dan Friedell。我是Gena Bennett。

　　Gena Bennett和Dan Friedell为Learning English写了这个故事。

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　　本文中的词汇

　　routine –n.一种定期或每日发生的事情

　　interrupt –v. 阻止某事发生

　　campus –n. 学校或大学的建筑和学生宿舍的位置

　　traditional –adj. 一种进行多年的做事方式

　　automatic –adj. 不经过深思熟虑就会发生的事情

　　depressing –adj. 不快乐的状态

　　lonely –adj. 感到独自一人或没有其他人的感觉

　　boring –adj.一种乏味的感觉或缺乏兴奋

　　isolated –adj.独自一人或远离他人的状态

　　host –n.欢迎他人参加活动或举办活动的人