In a beautiful hall close to the River Thames, Aoun shared a traditional holiday meal with students, faculty and staff, followed by a fun evening of conversations and dance.
LONDON — On a crisp fall night, Northeastern University students, faculty and staff joined President Joseph E. Aoun to share a Thanksgiving dinner in the heart of London, and to celebrate Northeastern’s global community.
It was the fifth time he hosted Thanksgiving in London where Northeastern has one of 13 campuses.
Beneath the impressive glass vaulting of Lindley Hall in Victoria, not far from the River Thames, many American undergraduates marked their first Thanksgiving overseas, while some of their British peers received their first taste of the annual tradition.
Speaking shortly before dinner was served, President Aoun expressed his gratitude to the university’s faculty and staff for all they have done to make Northeastern’s London campus a success.
“I would like to start by thanking the faculty and staff, who have been with you from day one,” he told the hundreds of assembled students. “Please let’s give them a big round of applause.”
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President Aoun also thanked the event organizers for “working tirelessly,” highlighting the beauty of the hall’s decor, which included autumnal trees and giant inflatable turkeys.
In between courses, President Aoun posed for photographs with students in front of one of the turkeys.
“I love being here because you see the energy. Everyone is very excited about celebrating Thanksgiving,” he said.
The president also celebrated with students in Dublin and Belfast earlier in the week. On Thursday, he highlighted the special bond forged between Northeastern students from all over the world.
“That’s the beauty of the Northeastern network,” he said. “I value that very much, and more importantly, so do our students.”
Beth Farr, a second-year politics and data science major from Taunton, England, who helped introduce President Aoun before dinner, said how nice it was to celebrate the occasion with her friends, whom she sees as family.
“I’m grateful to be able to eat with all of you, with all my classmates and all my friends who have become family over the last two years,” she told her peers, adding that she was excited to head to Boston in January for the spring semester.
Farr also said she enjoyed supporting her American peers over Thanksgiving.
“It’s nice to be able to sit down with your friends at a time when they might be missing their family and step into that [family] role in a way,” she said. “Especially for those who are very far away from home.”
Looking around the room, the second-year student expressed her appreciation to those who put on the event. “It’s gorgeous — they’ve done a really good job.”
Petar Petrov, a third-year economics major from Sofia, Bulgaria, said: “I’m grateful for the past few years in London. I’m grateful for the community I’m part of.”
The Thanksgiving holiday is all about community, Petrov said.
“Our regular Thanksgiving meal is a familial event for Northeastern students,” he said.
His friend Paolo Gheorghiu, a third-year law major from Zurich, Switzerland, added: “Having the president here with us really means a lot.”
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For some students, the Thanksgiving event in central London was the first they had spent away from their homes and their families.
Andreas Padilla, a first-year philosophy and computer science major from Boston was one of them.
“It’s my first Thanksgiving abroad, and my first time away from my family too,” he said, noting how much he had been looking forward to the event all day. “There’s definitely some excitement in the novelty.”
Being thousands of miles from home for Thanksgiving had caused him to reflect even more strongly on his family and what he owes them.
“I’m grateful for the opportunities that my family has given me,” Padilla said. “They don’t need to be physically around me for me to feel the support that they give me, and for allowing me to go off into the world and do my own thing.
“Being with my peers here reminds me that London is my opportunity to do something new.”
Padilla said one of the highlights of his semester in the U.K. has been walking past the iconic Tower Bridge each day, a landmark close to the Northeastern campus.
“Every day I find myself thinking that I’m really going to miss this when I leave,” he said.
While students like Padilla celebrated their first Thanksgiving overseas, others came to Lindley Hall with no prior knowledge of the American national holiday.
Laurence Bedford, a second-year computer science major from Buckinghamshire, England, who is studying as part of the apprentice programme, was among them.
“This is my first ever Thanksgiving,” he said. “I’ve come open-minded, and have come here to make new friends.”
Friendship and culture
The sharing of friendship and culture embodied in Northeastern’s Thanksgiving celebrations in London is special, said Elizabeth Itaye and Bryan Kaplan.
Kaplan, a third-year economics major from Los Angeles said: “I’ve been doing this [celebrating Thanksgiving in London] for the last three years, and I think it’s just lovely to include everyone in the culture.
“A lot of my British friends have never heard of Thanksgiving or know what it’s about. Bringing everyone together is a fun way to show off what we celebrate.”
For Kaplan, celebrating Thanksgiving in the U.K. “is all about community and having a home away from home.”
“Everyone’s welcome here: third years, first years, British, non-British,” he explained.
His friend Itaye, a third-year PPE major from London said: “It’s nice to be incorporated into American culture. And as a university student, I can’t complain about free food.”
When Kaplan told her that sweet potato casserole with marshmallows was part of the menu, Itaye said she was looking forward to trying it.
It is not just Kaplan teaching Itaye about his birthplace’s tradition. She has been teaching him hers.
“It’s nice to teach people about London from my perspective,” Itaye said. “Being friends with Bryan, that’s what I’ve done. Because I’m from here and he’s not.”
Many students shared their experiences with President Aoun and he was eager to listen.
“London is one of the major great cities in the world,” he said. “We want our students to have a global experience here, and we’re very excited to see they’re so enriched by being in London.”