ISO to host Thanksgiving

The idea of a traditional American Thanksgiving can be abstract to some, including international students here at Buffalo State College.

Members of the International Students Organization at Buffalo State will be hosting the third annual Thanksgiving potluck dinner for international students and their American host families.

The dinner will be held from 7 p.m. to 9 p.m. this Friday at the Assembly Hall in the Student Union and is open to anyone who would like to come and bring a dish to share.

"The mission of the International Students Organization is to have a place for international students to meet one another and also to meet national students," said the organization's treasurer, Carlos Cisneros, who is a senior from Mexico studying international business.

This will be the final event of International Education Week, which was declared by Gov. Andrew Cuomo and is meant to help all Buffalo State College students gain a cultural understanding of their classmates.

This dinner is meant to bring international and national students together and allow them to interact with one another and gain an understanding of each other's cultures, said Jean Gounard, director of International Student Affairs.

The event is primarily planned by students involved in the International Students Organization.

The organization's president, sophomore philosophy major Carissa Handiman, who is originally from Indonesia, said they work with Gounard to spread the word around campus and to the host families of international students off campus.

"I hope this will bring more awareness. Even though we are a small number, we are still here and we want to get to know more national students," Cisneros said. "We want to breach that barrier."

"Our main goal is to help international students get accustomed to American culture. They don't know what Thanksgiving is," Handiman said. "Each of us brings a dish, so it's a fun dinner to just talk, hang out and relax."

According to Handiman, international students at Buffalo State have been in America for different lengths of time and some have lived here with host families since high school.

The pot luck dinner is also a great opportunity for host families of international students to get involved with campus activities and meet other host families and other international students while they learn about the American celebration of Thanksgiving.

Those involved encourage international and national students alike to attend the dinner to eat, relax and make new friends.

"There's more to Buffalo State than just coming to classes," Cisneros said. "People should be open to other cultures."

He also encourages people to come and take a break from regular school activities and enjoy great cooking by many different people.

"The most important thing is making connections, being able to make new friends and finding common ground," Handiman said. "And there's going to be food."

Mia Summerson can be reached by email at summerson.record@live.com.