Spending the holidays abroad!

I used to feel homesick when I’d be traveling for two weeks, now I’ve been away from home for almost a year and I’m spending holidays away from home for the first time.

For someone that travels home regularly, travel restrictions and a global pandemic has definitely made this year different. But different doesn’t always have to mean bad, I still managed to make the best of celebrating holidays away from home. As an International Student, when you live so far from home, it’s easy to consider the friends you make abroad your family away from home. 

For Thanksgiving weekend, me and some of my best friends celebrated Thanksgiving at one of my good friends and her family’s beach house. All weekend I felt so thankful for my friends and the family we got to spend Thanksgiving with. It made me realize how lucky we are to get to experience a different culture and their hospitality. It was ultimately a great weekend where we got to enjoy some really good Thanksgiving food following a beautiful beach sunset. Spending a holiday away from home truly gives you the opportunity to experience cultural enrichment and a chance to learn more about a different culture and their traditions.

One of the best ways to cope with holidays away from home is knowing that you’re not alone, you’re probably not the only English, Australian, Brazilian or, in my case, Swedish person around Luckily, most of my friends are staying here in Santa Barbara, and it’s all of our first Christmas away from our family at home. It brings the excitement back with a sense of home and nostalgia knowing there are other people yearning to celebrate the same traditions. There are many other International Students in the same boat as you; far from home and feeling down or homesick around this time of year.

This year, me and one of my best friends are celebrating Christmas the traditional Swedish way. Growing up in Sweden, the julbord (translated to literally Christmas table) may look like any other buffet, but to us it’s a very important tradition to uphold. The table usually consists of a variety of pickled herring, cured salmon, meatballs, sausages and pork ribs. We’re also making Swedish Candy like Christmas toffee, and watching Donald Duck at 3pm as we always do in Sweden, so even if we’re not physically at home, we’ll still bring some of our traditions here which will hopefully make Christmas away from home more manageable.

Instead of getting the Christmas blues my advice when celebrating the holidays away from home is to try to uphold any traditions from home and (if you can) find friends to celebrate the holidays with. Not only is this a great way to make new friends, but also bond about being in the same situation. As much as I miss my family and home, I think this experience has taught me that even when we get homesick, there’s always a way of bringing home to your newfound home.

Allegra's volunteering experience with the SBCC food pantry!

Hi Guys! My name is Allegra Kabukapua Kalombo, I am 20 years old and I am an international student. I am originally from Democratic Republic of the Congo in Central Africa, but I also lived in Belgium, Europe. I am currently a sophomore at SBCC. It is my third semester and I have three more semesters left. I am a Biological Sciences major right now and I want to be transferred to a 4-year university to study pharmacy. 

From the beginning of my journey here in Santa Barbara to now, a lot of things happened. One of the main things that I have been doing is organizing events for the Ambassadors program. The Ambassadors is a program that creates a space of confidence for local and international students on campus. The program does host multiple events on campus in order to bridge a connection between students. Within the program, we have people from different backgrounds and countries. I have been lucky to meet all of those beautiful people from different cultures. 

The ambassadors is not only a program that hosts events, it can also help you to find volunteering opportunities such as helping the food pantry distribution. The food pantry is part of the Center of Equity and Social Justice (CESJ) and is directed by Alondra Gonzalez. Thanks to the ambassadors’ program I have been able to volunteer and therefore help. 

Another great benefit of the food pantry is that I had the opportunity to help people. One of my greatest goals in life is to be able to help others. By joining the volunteering team, I realized how much I loved helping other people. While helping, we could discuss with the people that were coming. And, some other times we would even give advice to help. 

The greatest thing that I have gained from volunteering is family. We started out being unknown to each other. Then step by step we built a strong bond. We have seen each other the entire summer and even after the fall semester started. I met so many people there and I have enjoyed every laugh and fun times that we got. Throughout this pandemic situation, it can be hard to meet new people and have fun. But, thanks to the food pantry, my summer far from home was not that bad at all. We would meet once every week and that would be enough to highlight my week.

I have been very blessed to have the opportunity to volunteer at the food pantry distributions. It even helped me to apply for a job at the CESJ and was hired. If I could give an advice to people who are afraid to get out of their comfort zone, I would say “TRY”. You do not have to apply for the food pantry specifically, but if you have a chance anywhere else then go for it. I had an amazing experience and I am still enjoying it.