The Online Reflector

While many local University of Indianapolis students return home to their families over winter break, several international students have chosen to stay in the United States rather than return to their home countries.

Freshman nursing major Annie Li felt it was too early to return to China.

“It is my first year in America, so I feel like it’s too soon to go back,” Li said. “I will go back probably after my sophomore year, just so I can get some time living on my own.”

Li said her time in America has been going well, although she admitted the language barrier has been her greatest obstacle. She talked about how Christmas is celebrated on campus, as well as her favorite parts of the festivities.

“I was quite surprised when I saw the decorations,” Li said. “We don’t have anything like it in China, with all the lights and decorations like what I see in the cafeteria.”

Deepika Gupte is a graduate student from India who is working on her degree in physical therapy. Because she returned to the United States in November, she also felt that returning to India in December was too soon.

“My personal opinion is that a month simply is not enough time when traveling overseas,” Gupte said. “In between packing, the flight, recovering from jet lag and then the actual time I would get to visit, there is not enough [time].”

Instead, Gupte is going to Chicago to visit her cousin for a week over the break. She talked about the differences between Indian and American holidays.

“In America, there really aren’t that many major holidays other than Thanksgiving and Christmas,” Gupte said. “In India, we have a holiday or a festival every month, where we take the time to visit temples and friends and celebrate. The other difference I noticed is that Indian holidays do not have the food staples American holidays do, such as turkeys at Thanksgiving.”

Jasmine Savla also is a graduate student from India, who is working on a degree in physical therapy. Savla said that Christmas in America and the Indian festival of Diwali are similar.

“There is a lot of brightness and decoration [associated with Diwali], not too far off from Christmas,” Savla said. “For three weeks, the schools are closed, and there is a grand celebration with lots of festivals and holidays during that time.”

Savla also compared Christmas celebrations in India and in America.

“Christmas in India isn’t so grand, simply because Christians are a minority. So instead of the big bright lights all over like you see in America, and the commercialism, Christians stay within their own families and have smaller, but festive celebrations,” she said.

Gupte said that the Christmas decorations in the United States are similar to the ones she has seen at Diwali, and Savla talked about how the campus offices are getting into the holiday spirit.

“I love walking through Esch [Hall] or Schwitzer [Student Center] and seeing how every office has been decorated,” Savla said. “So much preparation and work goes into making them look festive, and it is something that fascinates me and that I enjoy seeing.”