UEA GO GLOBAL: Thanksgiving 2015

Well, the 3^rd annual UEA Thanksgiving is over and finished with a roaring success. Every year, I (Patrick), along with Study Abroad and the International Office, host a joint Canadian/US Thanksgiving celebration. Typically, this event has been open solely to international students, particularly those on a Study Abroad or full-time North American students. Each year, we’ve seen numbers grow and the event becoming more and more popular. This year was no exception and will make way for wonderful Thanksgiving celebrations for future generations of UEA students.

 

The event was a stereotypical Thanksgiving with students and staff bringing dishes to share. We had a full turkey and a whole slew of international delicacies, with emphasis on traditional North American Thanksgiving food. This year, UEA provided the Turkey, which was great. In keeping with the Thanksgiving tradition, we aired the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade from 2014, an old NFL (American Football) game and the Charlie Brown Thanksgiving special. If you are unfamiliar with any of these traditions, I would highly recommend giving them a google and reading or watching all about them. They truly make Thanksgiving what it is and are a shared cultural experience for many North Americans. On top of this, we had several booths available for arts and crafts, study abroad opportunities and CareersCentral, who were in attendance to share all the wonderful opportunities available in the US and Canada. I certainly cannot forget to mention the UEA Angels, our university’s own Cheerleading squad, who shared the tradition of cheerleading for many internationals who may or may not be familiar with that sport.

 

Next year will hopefully bring more to the event and it will grow and grow and spread a North American tradition to other regions of the UK and Europe.

 

Patrick Bingham (North American Student Ambassador)