Illustration Shutterstock Text Ilja Bouwknegt, Femke van den Dries, Felix Landsman, Kevin Aditya Prathama and Sarah Scheid
‘Going home for Christmas.’ Isn’t that what the festive season is all about? Being with family, decorating the tree, eating together, unwrapping presents. Wageningen’s international students also want to go home for the December holidays, whether or not they celebrate Christmas. But not everyone can. Resource’s student editors asked internationals about their plans.
Szonja Lippert, Bioinformatics Master’s student from Australia and Hungary
‘I am going to stay with my grandparents and aunt in Hungary to visit my family. We usually celebrate by having a big Christmas dinner and going to the Christmas market. In Budapest, the Christmas markets are very popular, with lots of food and handmade items. I am really looking forward to visiting them. My aunt is an interior decorator and her house is always beautifully decorated. I look forward to decorating the Christmas tree and playing with her six cats.’
Lewis Hitchings, exchange student in Ecology and Conservation from the UK
‘I’ll be going home to the UK for Christmas. My parents are divorced, so on Christmas morning all the presents are at my mum’s house. Then I have a big Christmas dinner with my dad, which is a roast turkey. During Christmas, we watch Christmas movies and we decorate cookies and the Christmas tree. We always have too much food, which we’re still eating for days after Christmas.’
William Koven, Environmental Sciences Master’s student from China and Indonesia
‘I don’t have a plan for Christmas yet. I’m going to travel to various cities here in the Netherlands to visit the Christmas markets. I might go to the church in Wageningen to listen to the Christmas concert there. So far I haven’t planned any Christmas dinners. I will go to bed early on Christmas night so I don’t see people celebrating Christmas, ha-ha. I expect Wageningen to be very empty then, so I might just cook some food with my Indonesian friends.’
Ryan Haddad, Environmental Sciences Master’s student from Lebanon and France
‘I am planning to celebrate Christmas in Germany with the ISOW association, mainly to experience the Christmas markets in person. We will be visiting Christmas markets in Duisburg, Cologne and Düsseldorf. I can’t wait since it would be my first time in Germany, and Christmas eve is one of the best times to go there. I will be spending the rest of Christmas week here in the Netherlands, where I expect a cosy atmosphere, and a fun mood, with some nice decorations in the big cities. I am really looking forward to the vibe of Christmas!’
Alexis Thomas Stamatopoulos, Environmental Sciences Master’s student from Germany and Greece
‘I plan to travel home to my family in Munich for two weeks. On the 24th, I wake up at some point, wrap my presents and put them under the Christmas tree. My mother starts cooking early and makes Rinderrolladen with noodles; we eat this every year. I make the salad with my brother, and my sister makes some cookies. When it gets dark we go to the church, and when we come back we eat. Then we usually open our gifts, chat, eat the cookies and play some board games. It’s pretty relaxed. I am really looking forward to seeing my family again and catching up with my friends!’
Nida Adzilah Auliani, Nutrition and Health Master’s student from Indonesia
‘Who wants to spend Christmas on an airplane? I do! As a Muslim, I don’t celebrate Christmas. However, I can say spending December in the Netherlands and European countries is more festive than in my home country, Indonesia. Last year, my corridor mate baked us cookies with our names written on them. My friend and I also visited Christmas markets in Vienna, Budapest and Prague. This year I decided to go to my hometown in Bekasi, Indonesia, and my flight is on Christmas day! My brother’s and father’s birthdays are in December. Our family’s ritual is to celebrate them all night with cake, card games and a reflection on our goals for the coming year. Afterwards, I will travel with my mother before I start my thesis in Yogyakarta in the second week of January. I can’t wait to see them all and start my thesis!’
Gabriela Copello Duque, Master’s student of Resilient Farming and Food Systems, from Colombia
‘I’ll be going home — to Colombia — for Christmas. It’s one of the two opportunities I have per year to see my family. We do the usual Christmas stuff: eating together, giving presents, playing games. In the past, I was made to go to church but I’ve now rebelled against that, ha-ha! My plane ticket was really expensive this year, the most I’ve ever had to pay. My parents help me out with that as they want me to come home. If they hadn’t paid part of it, I’d have stayed here. Perhaps I would have spent Christmas with friends in that case.’
Hannah Ikkai Graham, Geo-Information Science Master’s student from America
‘In the Christmas holidays, I’ll visit my parents in Washington DC. They have moved since my last visit so it will be my first Christmas in their new house. My mother is Japanese and my father American. Christmas isn’t a big thing in Japan; they celebrate New Year much more. So we celebrate Christmas the American way, and New Year in the Japanese style. Japanese New Year mainly means counting down early because of the different time zone, and lots of great food. We traditionally eat soba noodles on New Year’s Eve. On New Year’s Day we make Osechi Ryori, a collection of symbolic dishes that you are supposed to serve up as exquisitely as possible.’
![[Seriously?] No Santa as reindeer affected by bluetongue](https://www.resource-online.nl/app/uploads/2023/12/WEB_De-neus-1.png)
