By Serafina

It was November. Winter came much faster this year than expected. Snow did not want to wait, it came early desperately falling from the sky.  My classmates could not wait, either as they started booking their flights home for Thanksgiving. Later their hands would be busy dragging the heavy, stuffed suitcases with tiny wheels on bumpy roads. For most of my classmates, their goal for Thanksgiving was clear: visit family, have fun, go shopping, or just get sleep.

 

I wasn’t planning to travel anywhere and wanted to treat Thanksgiving Break as the last refuge before the upcoming overwhelming finals week. I was going to celebrate Thanksgiving at CATS. Thanksgiving is not a festival celebrated in most Asian countries. Many students at CATS, including myself, are not familiar with the customs and meaning of Thanksgiving. Yet my friends got into the spirit of the holiday and attempted to make a turkey using a microwave, which ended up a mistake that should never be repeated.

 

The loud noise of the outside world like music at Karaoke, the chatting voices at a restaurant, and the rumbling noise of vehicles seemed to emphasize and contrast against the silence in the dorms—the school seemed forgotten and faded away. Fortunately, although many rooms were left vacant, we did not feel lonely. The emptiness of campus was offset by the little surprises— a special promotion prepared by the Dining Hall as well as the delicious dinners held by many dorm parents on their floor were heartfelt. The were also several shuttles to stores, outlets, and the mall where we got to experience the most crowded time of the year at a shopping mall.

 

I do not regret giving up sitting by the fire and surrounding myself with relatives during Thanksgiving dinner. Instead, I learned about Thanksgiving in a new way. Staying at CATS during the break taught me to customize and reinvent my own holiday—be it having an adventure to Boston with close friends for the first time or buying gifts for family and friends during Black Friday on my own dime. My Thanksgiving Break added to my wonderful experience of studying abroad and became one of those memories that makes me smile whenever I recall it.