During
Thanksgiving break, two of our International students, Mika Nakazato (China/Japan)
and Fangqi
“Bridget” Xing (China), had the opportunity to experience their first American
Thanksgiving at the home of fellow student, Rebecca Putorti, sophomore, in
Connecticut. Here is their correspondence from after their stay.
Dear Putorti Family,
I got to my dorm last night and I was really missing our five-day stay at your home. We did a lot things: went to the Macy’s parade, walked in your hometown’s parade, saw a football game, went to church, and played games together. This was the first time spending Thanksgiving Day in United States, and first time home stay in my life. Moreover, all things we did in those five days were all firsts for me. I had a lot of fun. I liked American culture more than before. I really like those busy days.
Though, we only
spent five days together, but I feel like we have known each other for ten
years!! I really love your family!!
Someday, I hope
you can visit me in China and Japan! I know both countries very well, so if you
have chance to come, please contact me!! I'm waiting your visit. If you come to
Hofstra, you must contact me and Bridget, and let's have some lunch or dinner
together!! :D
I
really had a great time in this Thanksgiving. It was the most memorable
experience for me. Moreover, America's Thanksgiving Day is much similar to Asian's
New Year's Day because all friends and all families visit each other. I really appreciated
that everyone gave me the chance to experience those days. Thank you for all!
*Just
want you to know that I will go to China this winter!
I posted some
pictures below.*:)
Thank you!
Have a great
day!
Sincerely,
Mika Nakazato
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A
note from Fangqi “Bridget”:
My
first Thanksgiving in USA was great since my American family is pretty nice.
I
spent about five days in Connecticut with Rebecca and her family. All the
people in her family are pretty nice and friendly.
Yashu,
Rebecca's father, took us to many places and tried many different kind of
things. We went to Macy's
Parade and visited Yale. Also, we had a wonderful Thanksgiving dinner. The
bread that Rebecca made was so good, and I love Polly's cooking, which is
Rebecca's mom. My favorite part of the whole weekend was the game that we
played after dinner. We played together, and we made two new friends who come
from England and New Jersey. We had a lot of fun.
We also met a
Chinese family since the Chinese man works with Yashu. Another
exciting point is that we joined the town's Christmas's parade. We walked on
the street and gave balloons and candies to children. This was my first time,
and I really love it. On
the last day, we went to church together where all the people in the church were
so nice and friendly. I really liked talking with them.
I
really like Hofstra's helping us experience this activity and arrangement.
Also, I am pretty appreciative of Rebecca's family's care, and I feel they are
like my other family, just in America. They are my American family! I think we
will keep in touch.
Thank
you.
Best,
Fangqi
“Bridget” Xing
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
A note from Mr.
Yashu Putorti, father of Rebecca Putorti:
I want to let
you know we had a great time with Fangqi and Mika. We are very happy they spent
the holiday weekend with us. Both girls are friendly and outgoing. They were
flexible with our schedules and willing to go anywhere. I want to let you know
this was a great idea to ask Hofstra parents to participate in offering a place
at our Thanksgiving table and we have now added two more people to our list of
"family" members.
The girls
arrived on Tuesday night with our daughter Rebecca. On Wednesday they went
grocery shopping and helped prepare for Thanksgiving dinner. On Thursday I took
the two girls to the Macy's Parade. We had a great time. We went home and
had our dinner and then played Wii, and other games. We laughed a lot.
On Friday we
went to a high school football game. We then toured Yale University and spent
some time in the Yale bookstore. In the evening we went out to decorate a float
that our church was putting in a local Christmas parade the next day.
On Saturday the
girls slept in while Rebecca played in a fundraiser soccer game. After lunch we
had them participate in the parade. They walked with our church group behind
the float and they handed out balloons and candy canes. That evening we had
concert tickets, so the two girls went to have dinner and visit with a
Chinese family they met at our Thanksgiving dinner table. (Our
Thanksgiving dinner table had a Chinese family, Fangqi from China, Mika from
Japan, Simon from England, and a few neighbors.)
On Sunday Fangqi
and Mika went to church with us because they had spent the two previous days
with church members and felt like family.
Even though it
was only a few days, we feel like we have known the girls for years, and they
feel the same.
Thank you for
asking us to open our home to them. We all had a great time.
Best regards.
Yashu Putorti
Compiled by Mary Coleman ---- Assistant Director for Parent and Family Programs, Parent and Family Programs
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ReplyDeleteregards
a nice share
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