Christmas on Campus: Making international students feel at home

On the 23rd, around 70 international students gathered in Serviços Centrais of the Polytechnic of Leiria to celebrate Christmas. Given the fact that celebrating this holiday at home can be extremely expensive, many international students decide to remain in campus during the holidays.

Celebrating Christmas with other students and be able to share familiar traditions by cooking something representative of their country and culture was the purpose of the Polytechnic of Leiria when it decided to organize activities for students over the Christmas break. This was also a great chance for students to meet and greet and to celebrate Christmas far away from home but within a homely atmosphere! It was more like a multicultural community meeting than the typical family reunion, but was positively a Christmas to remember. Dancing salsa taught by Ecuadorian students, eating bolo-rei from Portugal and tasting chapati  bread prepared  by Indian students were some examples of a great way to give a familiar feeling to this time of the year.