International students savor taste of American holiday

Kyoko Murakami never tasted turkey before she came to the United States.

“Turkey is not very popular in Japan,” the Kansas University graduate student said of her homeland’s attitude toward the big bird being served on most American families’ tables today.

“It’s kind of dry, but with some gravy on it, it’s OK,” Murakami said.

She is one of about 1,700 international students at KU. And like Murakami, many of those students today will be taking part in the American tradition of Thanksgiving.

For most, it’s a chance to try something they’ve only heard about.

“I know Thanksgiving is a big festival,” said Hui Lin, a freshman from China. “I wanted to know what they are going to do. I wanted to see what it’s like in a home and see what the lifestyle is like.”

Lin is spending this Thanksgiving at the home of Ed Grimwood in Burns. Lin and Murakami are among 27 foreign students at KU participating in the Betty Grimwood Thanksgiving Homestay Program.

The late Betty Grimwood founded the program nearly 50 years ago by inviting KU international students to her post-Thanksgiving community banquet in Burns. She died four years ago, but her husband, Ed, has carried on the tradition by continuing to invite students for Thanksgiving dinner in his home. He estimates they have had more than 500 students from 160 different countries.

Ed Grimwood said his son and daughter-in-law were helping.

As 4-year-old Christa Griffin, foreground, steadies sheet music, from left, her sister Lindsey, 6, and mother, Janice, spend a leisurely afternoon with international students Jiyun Han and Kyoko Murakami. Han, a Kansas University undergraduate from South Korea and Germany, and Murakami, a KU doctoral student from Japan, will share Thanksgiving with the Griffins at the home of Lawrence resident Audrey Kamb, Janice's mother. Kamb is host to international students each year on Thanksgiving. Wednesday, Han met the Griffins for the first time and soon after joined Janice on the violin.

“One thing I’ve found out is that people are all alike; it doesn’t matter where you live or what language you speak,” he said.

Hengmin Zhang, an exchange student from China, is staying with Jim Hoffman’s family in Burns. She helped prepare the meal Wednesday night.

“This is my first time to be with an American family, and I think it is a lot of fun,” she said.

Noriko Totani, a graduate student from Japan, is spending today as a guest of Diana Carlin, dean of KU’s Graduate School and International Programs. They are going to Carlin’s mother’s home in Pittsburg.

Totani said American students had explained to her about Thanksgiving, but she admits she doesn’t fully understand it, yet.

“I know it’s about eating and being thankful for the food,” she said. “I’m hoping to learn more. I’m really looking forward to it.”

In addition to spending Thanksgiving in such locales as Lawrence and Burns, international students will be feasting today in places like Lecompton, Eudora, Leawood and Derby.

Murakami is a veteran of the program.

Since she began working toward a doctorate in education policy five years ago, Murakami has been spending Thanksgiving with Audrey Kamb, a Lawrence resident who is a retired KU Med and Watkins Student Health Center nurse.

Kamb has volunteered to be a host for international students on Thanksgiving for many years.

“It was a way of teaching my children about other countries,” Kamb said. “It was a way of exposing them to a lot of different cultures.”

Kamb’s grown children these days return home for Thanksgiving with their children in tow. By continuing her involvement in the program, Kamb is introducing her grandchildren to different cultures.

Many of the university’s international students stay in residence halls or go home with American roommates or friends for the holidays, said Carol Dias da Silva, coordinator of the Thanksgiving program.

Other international students travel. Dias da Silva, who was herself an international student from Brazil, said she spent her first Thanksgiving traveling with a friend to Denver.

Most of the international students are like Murakami, Lin and Zhang, Dias da Silva said.

“They are just interested in making American friends and seeing what the American family lifestyle is all about,” she said.

Murakami said she had become aware of the meaning of the American Thanksgiving. She said she was thankful for the American friends she has made in the United States.

“When I first came here, I had no friends and didn’t know anybody,” she said. “Now I get four or five invitations from people asking me where I’m going to spend the holidays.”