International students in Canada get help from campuses and colleagues to keep holiday spirits alive
International students often can’t return┬аhome for the holidays,┬аbut Brock┬аUniversity in St. Catharines, Ont., is among schools in Canada with programs that help keep their spirits alive during their time off.
Brock hosts winter programs that reach out to students who may feel alone or detached from their families, so they can enjoy warm meals and share holiday traditions. Last year, 18 international students took part.
In 2021, Brock had about 1,900 international students. The school’s┬аinternational office said hundreds of them often remain in Canada for the holidays.
“Being away from home can get quite tough at times, however, occasions like this make you feel at home,” said Harsh Patel,┬аa┬аmaster’s in business administration (MBA) student.
Patel was born in Kenya and┬аgrew up in India. Last year, he couldn’t return home to visit family, with the high cost of┬аplane tickets and just a┬аtwo-week break between terms. So he took part in Brock’s Home for the Holidays program, which started unofficially in 2010 as a social media-driven initiative┬аand has since become an annual program.
As part of the program, faculty members host events for students, whether it be a movie night, tea time┬аor, in the case of Darryl Veld, associate director of student affairs, and his partner Jen, to host a Christmas dinner party.
Veld was one of eight hosts who participated last year and invited students in his┬аinternational class.┬аPatel was among those enjoying a “traditional meal,” including a turkey and “all the dressings” while┬аadhering to pandemic lockdown mandates at the time.
After ice-breakers and┬аsome wine, and with Veld’s easily excitable dog Myles┬аthere too, the group enjoyed dinner.
“Dinner was maybe my favourite part,” said Veld. “Everyone’s plates were pretty small at first, but during seconds, everyone was enjoying themselves and their plates were full.”
Patel loved playing darts and board games with his classmates after dinner, and regrets that the night ended too quickly.
“I was enthralled by the people there and I enjoyed the activities that we did togetherтАжI’m thankful to Jen and Darryl.”
Veld said he plans to hold a similar event this year, but with fewer attendees to accommodate his family needs.┬а
Music is something that connects people, and what better way to demonstrate our different cultures than through something that brings people together, regardless of language, beliefs┬аor cultural differences.– Monserrat┬аRamirez Ruvalcaba, McMaster University student
Brian Chan, who was also at┬аVeld’s dinner last year, came from Hong Kong in 2018 as a student and is currently a university staff member.┬а
“Now that I’m working for Brock I hope to become a host myself, as my own way of giving back to the community, because it’s so valuable to international students.”
Earlier this month, Chan said┬аhe┬аplanned┬аto invite a few students to a Christmas Market, potentially┬аin Toronto.
‘Music connects people’
In Hamilton, McMaster┬аUniversity, which had┬аabout 6,400 international students last year,┬аcouldn’t say how many of them remain┬аin Canada┬аduring the holiday break.
But from Nov. 28 to Dec. 2, the university featured┬аa holiday market that┬аinvolved making and exchanging cultural foods from different countries, as well as┬аsinging, dancing and vendors.
International students said the market helped bring people together.
Monserrat Ramirez Ruvalcaba, who came to Canada from Mexico in 2019 and is┬аin her┬аfourth year studying social psychology, sang at the recent market. She’s┬аvisiting family during the 2022 break, but said gatherings like the market are helpful connectors.
“Music is something that connects people, and what better way to demonstrate our different cultures than through something that brings people together, regardless of language, beliefs┬аor cultural differences,” she said.┬а
In other parts of Canada, holiday┬аinitiatives for international students include the University of Alberta’s Share the Cheer program┬аand┬аstaff-hosted events at Dalhousie University in Halifax. Some schools also offer┬аcounselling for students staying in Canada during the holiday break.
