One of the main struggles of changing countries is trying to adapt your old, ingrained traditions to the new culture you find yourself in. Everything seems to become harder: dressing up for a national party, cooking that homemade dish with fresh ingredients you could find in the small shop back home, practicing your religion, and the simplest of things: just speaking in your mother tongue.
Putting yourself out there in the big world is a task only taken on by the brave. And these Essex students master it by merging national traditions with their new home in the United Kingdom, without losing what is most important: their identity.
Philip Nosa-Adam is a second-year Nigerian student here at the University of Essex. He is very proud of his culture and has invested time and energy to make changes in the range of food stocked by the Store on campus. Although being accustomed to European food back home, he felt there wasn’t enough, if any, African food on campus. With the help of friends, he put forward a proposal to the Students’ Union and succeeded in getting a variety of ingredients and dishes from Africa on sale in the Store. He likes to eat these meals when he wants something filling, unlike European dishes, which he chooses when needing a light meal. Philip did find an African store in town, called Choice Foods on Botolph’s Street, which sells the ingredients he needs when cooking at home, solving one of the main problems for international students when trying to cook their national food. Concerning religion, he, unfortunately, hasn’t practiced as much as he would at home. He has adapted to the secular culture around him, which he tried explaining by saying “When in Rome, do as the Romans do”. With less pressure from parents or society to pray, secularism has taken over in some ways. He misses the songs and the prayers, but is not too concerned.
Veselin Petkov, from Bulgaria, is in his second year. As a musician, he plays a traditional instrument called gadulka, which is similar to a violin. His ties with Bulgaria remain strong as he has several Bulgarian friends on campus and attends to the events organised by the Bulgarian society. As far as food is concerned, he eats Bulgarian food once in a while, particularly on special occasions. Veselin has learnt a lot about British culture, alongside many others, since arriving in Essex and has become “much more tolerant and global-minded”. He has got used to things typically British, such as British politeness or the size and architecture of buildings.
First-year Romanian student Demetra Cojocariu has been very loyal to her national culture here at Essex: bringing over recipes from her mother and finding the Queen Street Continental Supermarket, a shop selling Romanian ingredients. Unfortunately, she hasn’t managed to cook many meals as it requires time and skill to master them. She does occasionally wear the traditional outfit and also hangs her flag outside her window. She regrets that there are not very many Romanians in Essex as she would like to be more involved with people of the same culture on campus and learn traditional dancing, but ultimately, many of her friends are from Eastern Europe and share similar values to her.
The next student, Mahdi Ghuloom, is a second-year student from Bahrain, a very small country in the Middle East. Middle Eastern food options are limited on campus, and combining this with being vegan, Mahdi perhaps struggles more than most. However, since arriving for his foundation year more than two years ago, he has seen progress in that field, as the Arabic community increasingly grows, with more and more options in Tesco and local stores. Mahdi still feels the best option is to go to London for his national food, where there is a wider choice. As far as religion is concerned, secularism has caught up with him too. As he is from a very small country, he was not expecting a large community of like-minded people, and so he is not particularly disappointed. On the other hand, the Bahrain community mixes with the larger Arabic community. “The Arabic community itself is not as united as it could be, possibly due to being spread across different departments, educational levels, and backgrounds”. Finally, to embrace other cultures, he has joined many societies. The fact that there are so many international students here makes it a big melting pot, therefore trying to embrace the traditional British culture fully.
Julia Kedziorek is a second-year Polish student at the University of Essex. She participated this year in a fundraising run organised by the Polish Society with all the money going to Polish hospices for children with cancer in Salesia. She was also part of the society event at Christmas when they made pierogi, the Polish version of dumplings. She celebrated Christmas or [[[[[[Wigilia]]]]]] earlier with her two Polish flatmates, as they shared [[[[oplatek]]]]]] or waffles. The Polish society will also organise a big BBQ on Constitution Day in May during the exam period, to offer students the chance to chill out and rest during revision. Julia likes to mix Polish and Hungarian dishes to make something special but unfortunately does not have time to make it too often. In terms of staying connected with her country, she listens to Polish music a lot, including a group called [[[[[Czerwone Gitary]]]]] which could be called the Polish Beatles. Julia has days “when England is too much and she needs to close her doors and listen to Polish music”. In addition to this, she is interested in her Polish history, between stories of immigration such as Marie Curie or the sufferings during World War I.
Jakub Banik from Slovakia is in his second year in the United Kingdom. It has been difficult for him to find food here from his home country, but he has managed to make a dish called [[[[[Slovak Halusky]]]]], which is made primarily from grated potatoes and sheep’s milk cheese. Another dish he makes is potato salad with Schnitzel, adding peas and carrots to the traditional recipe. He has had drinks from Slovakia whilst at Essex, including [[[[[[tatratea]]]]], a type of tea from their mountain range, as well as [[[[[Kofola]]]]], which is similar to Coca-Cola. As for Slovakian traditions, they celebrate “Names Day”; this is a tradition in most Catholic and Eastern Orthodox countries, which consists of celebrating a day of the year associated with one’s given name. It is celebrated just as much as a birthday in several countries, including Slovakia. They also celebrate Halloween more as a religious event on 1st November, as they pray to commemorate their ancestors. Finally, they celebrate Saint Nicholas on 6th December, which is celebrated in many countries, especially Scandinavia. In his country, you receive candy or coal, depending on whether you were good or bad, just like the “Santa is coming to Town” song. These are the three events he has been able to celebrate here in Essex and will be home for the other celebrations.
The Hispanophone community is represented by Angel Barranqueras, a Postgraduate student from Catalonia, Spain. He has kept up with the news a lot since arriving, especially talks for the independence for Catalonia last year and was back home for the elections. He also stays in touch with his old lecturers for research for his dissertation. In terms of celebrations, he has mostly been home for the national parties but has celebrated local traditions differently. In Spain, they do not celebrate Valentine’s Day but rather Saint Jordi’s on 23rd April, for which he will try to be in Barcelona to celebrate the activities like the Hispanophone population. Angel has been trying his best to imitate the food he eats back home, without much success as it is difficult to find the ingredients.
Josipa Javora is Croatian, studying in her second year. She has been keeping up food habits to the best of her ability, bringing to Essex some recipes and making Turkish coffee just like at home. She has brought over tea, drinks, cheese as well as sausages and tries cooking or eating Croatian food 3 or 4 times a week. The Croatian community is quite small, making it difficult to connect with others, but progress has been made; they usually socialise over tea, but recently a group of Croatian students met up for drinks. Finally, she keeps up with the news and listens to a lot of Croatian music.
Samantha Khoo is one of the many Malaysian students at the university and is in her first year at Essex. She has a central role in the Malaysian society. She participates in most events, including being one of the main dancers during their performance at the Malaysian night. Samantha tries cooking national meals once every two weeks to try to keep in touch with her Malaysia culture. Although she feels there is a large community that is recognized and respected, it isn’t necessarily embraced as it should be; she feels there is a lack of interest in their culture.
Finally, Zethy Suhaidah Zainudin is a second-year Malaysian student. She feels there is a strong community spirit, which helps her to cope with homesickness, as well as the many international students, who help her to not feel out of place. The community gave her a warm welcome, which helps her to speak openly about her culture, not only with Malaysians but with others nationalities as well. The fact that there is a multi-faith chaplaincy is important as she is able to pray in between her busy schedule. As for events, she helped the Malaysian society prepare dishes for multiple events, including Chinese New Year as part of a multicultural event on squares.
Through a variety of interviews, students from across the world have shown us how it may be difficult to keep up with your culture and national identity when arriving in a foreign country. Through communities and societies, students at the University of Essex have met people, organised events and shared moments with others of a similar background. However, a common theme in adapting to life at Essex has been how open students are to embracing new cultures, whilst staying true to their background. The university is a melting pot of international students with a variety of cultures; embracing these cultures while sharing your own is the true essence of being an international student at the University of Essex.
Comments