Setting aside time in November to get together with family, eating too much food and falling asleep watching football is a great American tradition.

Some international students at Wichita State have a unique perspective about Thanksgiving.

Ai Guo, a Chinese student, has lived in America for five years. She did not know much about Thanksgiving before arriving. All she knew was that shopping malls had sales and people ate turkey. When she came to the U.S., seeing these practices firsthand surprised her.

“Turkey is really big,” Guo said. “When I’m thinking turkey, I’m thinking like a chicken, but after I came here, I saw turkeys can be really big.”

Thanksgiving is one of the biggest holidays in America, as it also unofficially starts the Christmas season with huge sales in retail outlets the following day.

Guo was also surprised by the way people go shopping right after Thanksgiving.

“Black Friday is kind of crazy,” Guo said. “I went to a shopping mall with my friend, and a lot of people were shopping at midnight. It really surprised me.”

Student Thili Wikramanayake of Sri Lanka has been in America for eight years. He said he had a good idea of what Thanksgiving was when he came here due to media exposure.

“You hear about it through movies and stuff. It’s a very American holiday, so it kind of stands out,” Wikramanayake said. “We knew about the turkey, obviously, and the gravy and stuff like that.”

Dima Estanbuli, a WSU student who came from Syria 11 months ago, echoed the sentiment.

“The idea I have is basically from movies, because it’s the only way to know about Thanksgiving before I came here,” Estanbuli said.

While Thanksgiving is limited to this continent, many cultures around the world have similar holidays. In Guo’s native China, the closest thing is Chinese New Year, which is celebrated in January or February, depending on the year. Guo said the biggest difference is that people do not rush to go shopping after they celebrate.

“Every store is closed that day, but not [in America],” Guo said. “They open at midnight.”

The New Year celebration in Sri Lanka takes place in April. Wikramanayake said it is his home’s holiday most similar to Thanksgiving.

“Families get together and celebrate,” Wikramanayake said. “It’s kind of similar to [Thanksgiving], but [a] different time of year.”

In Syria, Estanbuli celebrated a Muslim holiday called Eid al-Adha, or Feast of the Sacrifice. During this holiday, meat is divided and given to friends, family and the needy. This is comparable to the common Thanksgiving practice of donating canned food to the poor.

“I think they are similar in concept,” Estanbuli said.

All three students are celebrating Thanksgiving this year with their American friends. However, Guo says she is not fond of the holiday’s signature dish. Rather, her favorite part is the mashed potatoes.

“I don’t really like turkey,” Guo said. “I think chicken is better than turkey.”

Wikramanayake is similarly ambivalent about turkey.

“I’m not a big fan of turkey, but if you make it right, I like it,” Wikramanayake said. “I like the dark meat, not the white meat.”

Since she has been in America for less than a year, this will be Estanbuli’s first Thanksgiving. She said she is looking forward to celebrating it for the first time with some of the friends she has made here.

“I’m lucky enough to have friends here who I consider my family,” Estanbuli said.