Thanksgiving for Twenty Strangers

I teach English at a community college, and many of my students are international. This November, I learned that eighteen of them had never had an American Thanksgiving. Most couldn't go home for the break. So I invited them all to my house.

My husband panicked. My mother came to help. We roasted two turkeys, made four pies and an enormous pot of mashed potatoes.

They came from Brazil, Vietnam, Syria, Nigeria, Ukraine, Peru and Korea. Many of them brought dishes from home, unasked. We had turkey next to jollof rice next to kimchi next to Brazilian cheese bread. My mother tried everything and declared the Korean pancakes "life-changing."

Before we ate, I explained the tradition of saying what you're thankful for. We went around the table. A young man from Syria said he was thankful for the bus driver who always waited for him. A woman from Peru said she was thankful for her daughter's first English word. Someone said, "I'm thankful for this pie," and everyone laughed.

They stayed until midnight. They left with leftovers in every container I owned. Three of them came back on Saturday to return the containers and stayed for lunch.