By ANTHONY WRIGHT
Thanksgiving is the time when people gather together with family and friends and enjoy a day of being together and giving thanks.
It is a national holiday to commemorate the harvest festival celebrated by the Pilgrims in 1621 in North America.
After enduring a hard year of sickness and poverty, the Pilgrims gave gratitude to God in feasting and recreation.
Today, feasting and recreation are still a major part of America’s Thanksgiving, along with football, turkey and all the trimmings.
Most students here at Piedmont also celebrate with a trip home to see family and a chance to take a break from classes.
Piedmont also hosts many international students, so on Tuesday Nov. 19, Piedmont’s Resident Assistants held an event in the Student Center called International Thanksgiving.
Free food was provided through the RAs’ budget including chicken strips from Zaxby’s, lasagna from Pizza Hut, fried rice and shrimp sauce from Mishima and chips and salsa from El Sombrero. A variety of sodas were also available.
Around 40 students attended International Thanksgiving, and after their plates were full of food, international students Danny Jazrawi, Michele Morelli and Viola Terschluse spoke about their own countries’ holiday traditions.
Jazrawi, a sophomore business major, talked about Holy Week and Christmas in El Salvador.
Morelli, a sophomore business major who lived in Germany for six years, told the students about Weihnachten Christmas on Dec. 24 and Fasching, a holiday like Halloween with costumes in Feb.
Terschluse, a junior education major also from Germany, concluded the talk by speaking to everyone about Easter in Germany.
Carsey Pilcher, one of the RAs hosting the event, said, “[International Thanksgiving] was an educational event that we did to meet our goal for the semester.”
The RAs wanted to educate the residents about holidays and rituals that are celebrated in different countries.
Students who attended the event learned about international holidays from Piedmont’s own international students while enjoying a free, meal.