Closing out the festivities for International Education Week, the second annual Global Friendsgiving in Kramer Court allowed for international students to gather and share their cuisine, cultures and traditions in celebration of Thanksgiving at California Lutheran University. 

“For the past two years, this event has been the closing event of the week, so we’re super excited to host it here at Kramer Court because it’s the global leader’s community, so it’s a good way to incorporate students in international education,” Raynaud said.

Raynaud said the Center for Global Engagement has changed and improved the event from last year.

“This year we incorporated other dorms and we expanded it a little bit to allow all students to come and join us,” Raynaud said.

International Education Week takes place in the third week of November, and Assistant Director of the Center for Global Engagement Lara Raynaud said an important part of International Education Week was for schools across the country to display the range of cultures on campus. 

“We want the event to involve the origins of Thanksgiving and also how the campus was built on Chumash land. On every table, we put little pamphlets that show the history of Thanksgiving and why it’s important,” International student and Kramer Court Resident Assistant Malaika Nazim said. “Last year and this year we tried choosing a different culture of foods, so this year we chose the Middle East and we also chose French desserts”

Raynaud said since international students may not have the opportunity to go home to family and celebrate Thanksgiving, this event can be important to these students. 

“It’s a space for us to have international students come and gather for Thanksgiving because they don’t necessarily have family around. This is an important event because these students won’t feel like they are missing out on Thanksgiving at home,” Raynaud said.  

Nazim said she loved the event last year and the event was an opportunity her to meet other international students and those who have studied abroad.

“A lot of international students can’t go home for Thanksgiving, so I think this event is a great opportunity for students to bond and indulge themselves with good food,” Resident Assistant for Kramer court and international student Hoyeung Law said.