Students far away from home on Easter

The Moldovan young people who study abroad and are unable to return home on Easter try to create a ‘home’ atmosphere hundreds of kilometers away from the dear ones so that they could enjoy the feast. [Poland: I long for my family now more than ever] Contacted by Info-Prim Neo, Dorin Galben, a student of the Humanitarian Academy “Aleksander Gieysztor” in Poland’s Pultusk, said that this year he will celebrate the feast together with his new friends in another country. “It’s for the first time that I observe Easter not with my family. I long for my family now more than ever. I miss my mother’s food, my sister’s jokes and my father’s wish to sleep longer in the morning of Easter, when my mother insisted that we should wake up and eat blessed food,” said Dorin Galben. The young man will however have eggs, possibly red, and pound cake on the Easter table. “I will not prepare Moldovan dishes on this occasion as I cannot cook what I like. I will invite my friends from Poland to meal as they want to know what Easter traditions we have and what we talk about. In general, they like talking to people from other countries,” said the student. The Polish people, who are mainly Catholics, usually celebrate Easter in the family, with discretion and in quietness. On the first and second day of Easter, all the shops are closed as the sellers also celebrate. Pultusk is a small town and has only Catholic churches. The closest Orthodox church is located 60 km away, in Warszawa. [China: I bought pound cake from a French shop] The Moldovan community in the Chinese town Wuhan, Hubei province includes five persons. Lidia Sanduleac, a student at the university Huazhong Shifan Daxue in this town, said that the Moldovans will celebrate Easter together at a restaurant of Western dishes. Afterward they will go for a picnic in a park. “In the tenth grade, I won a FLEX scholarship and went to the U.S. for a year. It’s not for the first time that I’m not near the family on holidays. In the U.S., I enjoyed a great feast together with the host family. In China, I intend to create a holiday atmosphere in my soul,” said Lidia Sanduleac. She also said that she will go to a Catholic church as there is no Orthodox church nearby. “I will go to church after work as I work on Easter. I and my roommate painted eggs. I bought pound cake from a French shop. We will probably celebrate together with the colleagues from Russia. This year, Lidia Sanduleac studies Chinese so that she could start studying for a degree next year. She will study for five years in China. [France: Nobody and nothing can replace family holidays] Mihaela Muntean, who studies at Université de Bourgogne in Dijon, France, celebrates Easter far from home for the first time. “In the town where I study there are many Romanian students together with whom we try to ‘improvise’ a home atmosphere. We are full of energy and in high moods. An international student has many exciting experiences, but nobody and nothing can replace the family holidays,” she said. “When I say ‘family’, I mean those who are not among us. Last summer, I lost an important member of my family and I wish I was at home on Easter.” Last year, when studying in Romania’s Sibiu, Mihaela could go home as the distance was shorter. “This year it is for the first time that I will not be at home on Easter. But we can say “Jesus has Risen” by skype,” said Mihaela Muntean. The cultural and religious diversity allowed her to discover different customs and traditions. “Being Catholics, most of the French people celebrated Easter with the family one week earlier. They usually have meals in the family and then visit the close relatives. They do not go to the cemetery on Low Sunday. The next Sunday after Easter is an ordinary day. On November 1, they celebrate La Toussaint, which is the Remembrance Day for the Dead,” said Mihaela. She will have red eggs and pound cake, even if French, on the Easter table. In Dijon, there are a number of Orthodox churches, where she goes to pray for peace, health and for successfully passing the exams that will start soon.