A Taste of Thanksgiving 2015

Conversation 4: A Taste of Thanksgiving.

Since Palmira will not be at TCU for long, I would like her to have more experience with the community here at TCU. For our fourth meeting, I invited her to the Thanksgiving party organized by International Christians Fellowship (ICF), where I am on the executive board. Since she didn’t know the places in the school well, we walked together to Tom Brown Building where the event was. We had to arrive early than most other people because I was in charge of organizing the event. I thought it would be a nice occasion for Palmira to meet new friends and to spend her first Thanksgiving in the United States with friends from all over the world.

One of the greatest thing about ICF that makes me love ICF so much is its wonderful people and its diversity. ICF is an organization that promotes diversity by bringing international students together under Christ’s love. It doesn’t happen very often when you can relax, eat Thanksgiving food, and talk to a bunch of open, friendly people from around the world. There were about 30 people at the event who come from a diverse pool of nations: America, Japan, Vietnam, Sweden, China, Poland, Sri Lanka, Taiwan, Angola, Mexico, India, United Arab Emirates, etc, you name it!

After people fed their stomach a little bit, we played a small ice-breaker games called “Two Truths – One Lie.” We were encouraged to join a group that we didn’t know most of the people. On the first round, I was in a group with the European girls, while Palmira was in another group with some of my friends that she didn’t meet until then. On the second round, Palmira and I were in the same group, together with Quan from China, and Rebecca and Matt from the US. The three things Palmira listed for other people to guess were: 1) She is 20; 2) She likes cat; and 3)She has 4 siblings. “I am her friend; I should know this!” I recalled what she shared with me in our previous meetings. I knew she had some siblings, definitely more than two; I was pretty sure that she is 20 as well because I remembered how surprised I was in our first meeting when I learned that Palmira is one year older than me. So I guessed the false statement was about the cat. I was right! She hated cats, just like me!

After the ice-breaker game, we shared what we were thankful for. At that moment, Palmira shared the most wonderful gift for me as she said she was thankful for me and my inviting her to this event so that she could make new friends. I was touched at that moment! It was a nice, warm atmosphere filled with laughter and friendliness. People mixed up together in order to get to know someone they didn’t know. The benefits of the diversity at ICF are undeniable: the international students have a place where they call home, where all of their ideas are welcome and valued; they also transition better into the American culture with our assistance physically and spiritually; and the American students who join ICF make cool friends from different countries and have the chance to broaden their horizons

We took some group photos while we still had most of everyone there. Palmira asked for photos on her phone as well so that she could show her class in IEP. She expressed how she enjoyed the event and thanked everyone in it. It was really nice to know that she enjoyed our small party and had a good time. Then, since her relative was going to pick her up, we said goodbye to her and all were glad to get to know her.

Overall, it was a nice social bonding time with Palmira and other friends. I did not have long one-on-one conversation that goes deep into topics with her as usual. But I believe hand-on experience with a new culture is the best way to prepare an individual for the big transition. Also, thanks to Thanksgiving party, I felt a bit more assured that I was still being able to catch up with her life because I still remembered some small details about her. Moreover, I’m glad that Palmira got to experience a bit of all the cultures in that room that day and had some nice memories about TCU while she is still here.