THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Wednesday, December 13, 1995 TAG: 9512120093
SECTION: ISLE OF WIGHT CITIZEN PAGE: 10 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY LINDA McNATT, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: SMITHFIELD LENGTH: Medium: 92 lines
Tina Wiencierkowski misses the Christmas decorations at home in Bottrop, Germany, and she misses Advent, when her whole family sits around special candles each Sunday and reads Christmas stories.
``I miss my family so much,'' the 17-year-old Granby High School senior exchange student says. ``I miss shopping with them. And I miss the candles and the food baking.''
She's not the only one feeling this touch of yuletide homesickness. Tina found that out last weekend when she gathered in Smithfield with exchange students from throughout Hampton Roads at a party sponsored by the Real Smithfield Jaycees.
Jaycee president Patti Stephenson is a counselor for AYUSA - Academic Year in the U.S.A., a foreign-exchange program that brings students from other lands to America for a year of their high school educations.
The program involves bringing all of the students in a region together several times a year to talk and discuss adjustment problems they may be having, Stephenson said.
``A lot of times, if they are having problems - in adjusting to our culture, for example - they'll talk with the other kids before they'll talk to the counselors. And it's a good time for them to exchange ideas and philosophies. We thought it would be fun to bring them together during the holidays.''
On Saturday, all the students brought a native dish they've been longing for. Fabiana Rocha, who attends Smithfield High School, brought a huge bowl of beans and rice.
``In Brazil, we eat beans and rice every day,'' she said, laughing.
And Fabiana was treated to another dish she'd been longing for. Rosane Vieira, from Brasilia, Brazil's capital, and a student at Suffolk's Nansemond River High School, brought hot dogs in tomato sauce with onions and corn.
``Here, they eat ketchup on hot dogs,'' Rosane said. ``It's not the same. It's got to be tomato sauce.''
Thor Haaland, a 17-year-old from Norway attending Manteo High School in North Carolina, contributed a kind of fruit salad, similar to Southern ambrosia, to the international feast. The difference was the dish included rice and the dressing was whipped cream.
Tina brought asparagus, eggs and onions in mayonnaise, something she said her family would be sure to have in Germany.
Sam Malin, from Sweden and attending Tallwood High School in Virginia Beach, got the recipe for Swedish meatballs from his mother when he called home Friday night and made the dish to share on Saturday.
``I miss the Swedish chocolate,'' Sam said. ``And I miss my dog, Felix.''
Hanna Wennberg, also Swedish and attending Lake Taylor High in Norfolk, brought pepper cookies.
Pepper cookies?
``It's prepared cookie dough my brother sent to me from Sweden. They call them pepper cookies, but they have no pepper in them.''
Toshiko Okada, from Tokyo and also at Lake Taylor, made egg rolls.
After a visit from Santa and gifts from the Jaycees, the students stood in front of the Christmas tree in a group and shared their longing for home.
``We would open presents after singing around the Christmas tree,'' Tina said. ``And everybody gets a pillowcase to put their presents in.''
``We might spend the night on the beach,'' Fabiana said. ``And there would be lots of fresh fruit - pineapple and melons.''
``Around 12 or 1 o'clock on Christmas Day, we have our Christmas sauna,'' Sam said. ``We don't open gifts until around 6 o`clock.''
``After eating until we can't stand on our feet, we open our presents,'' Thor said, laughing. ``Then, it's eating some more, and we go to my grandparents.''
``I will miss all of my cousins and my grandparents,'' Hanna said.
In Russia, they exchange gifts on New Years, Ulyana Jrinevich said. Dijana Kovacevic, of Croatia, said that at midnight on Christmas Eve, her family would go to church.
``All of the people are on the streets,'' she said. ``You don't even have to go into a church because there are so many people on the streets.''
AYUSE regional director Becky Pruitt, who lives in Nags Head and has two students living with her, said the Smithfield party was one way of fulfilling her goal of having the students become more a part of the communities they live in.
``This is a chance for them to get together and talk,'' she said. ``One of my students has been longing for an American Christmas. Something like this gives them a chance to share traditions.''
Traditions and Christmas greetings.
Froehliche Weihnachten. Feliz Natal. God Jul. Hyvaa Joulus.
And Happy Holidays. ILLUSTRATION: Staff photo by MICHAEL KESTNER
Tina Wiencierkowski, of Bottrop, Germany, gets her picture taken
with Santa on Saturday.
by CNB