Thanksgiving Memories

Join us in the Thanksgiving spirit as we reminisce about cherished memories from exchange visitors who experienced this heartwarming holiday with their host families and friends for the very first time.

Let’s celebrate the stories of gratitude and cultural connections!

My First Thanksgiving, Meet Quyen from Vietnam

“I am living with other CAEP students from Colombia and the Philippines during my CAEP experience at Rockwell Farms in North Carolina! For me, living with other people, especially with people from different cultures, is really interesting. I have learned how to cook their traditional foods and how to talk with other people about their styles. I now have more knowledge about other countries in the world. My first holiday in the United States is Thanksgiving. In Vietnam, we do not have Thanksgiving.

It always sounded fun, and I was always curious about how turkey on Thanksgiving tasted. It is the reason why I was so excited when my friend invited me to join her family. We had an amazing dinner with turkey and other traditional foods for the holiday. We ate, shared our stories, and played some games together. That is my first Thanksgiving and a holiday that I will never forget in my life. Now I know how turkey tastes, and I can tell my kids about my Thanksgiving when I become a mother someday.

Evette, my English teacher from the local community college where I am an ESL student, invited me to her Thanksgiving dinner. I enjoyed my holiday with Evette’s family and my roommates as we celebrated some traditional foods, and I shared my favorite Vietnamese dishes. We had conservations, and we exchanged our cultures with each other.

Before I came here, I thought it would be a hard time because of different languages, cultures, and especially foods. I was so nervous. But when I came here, I realized that everything is amazing. I have met a lot of people who treat me as their family. I have been invited to try new foods or experience their lifestyles by joining their traditional parties or holidays. All the cultures I have known here are amazing, although they are new to me. I feel so lucky that I can experience this.”