International students experience winter weather for first time
International student Sayedul Aman stands outside in the snow on Sunday, Jan. 17 at Central Michigan University.
Ashwini Pipalapalli can’t wait to go sledding, make snow angels, build snowmen and have snowball fights.
The India graduate student heard stories about Christmas in the United States, so she was excited when she saw snow for the first time.
“I woke up and saw snow outside and thought I had to experience it,” she said.
Pipalapalli received winter safety precautions from the International Student Organization at Central Michigan University. She also stocked up on warm clothing, purchasing a winter jacket, snow boots and gloves. With a slow start to the winter season this year, Mount Pleasant has snow on the ground and is forecasted to get more snow this week and temperatures in the teens.
Egypt sophomore Moustafa Hassan thinks it’s often too cold to venture to the Student Activity Center or the Charles V. Park Library.
“When it was very cold for me, I saw people wearing T-shirts,” he said.
He thinks the snow is beautiful, but doesn’t like the cold weather that comes with it, Hassan said.
Before coming to the U.S., Bangladesh graduate student Sayedul Aman hadn’t seen snow since living in Ireland when he was 3 years old — an experience he doesn’t remember.
On the first day it snowed, he went to the park with his friends, stopping to take photos on the way.
“If it keeps snowing month after month I don’t think I’ll like it. But the first day I enjoyed it,” he said before winter break.
Now that he's experienced the winter weather, it's not as bad as he thought it would be, but he still prefers warm weather. He doesn't like how he can no longer ride his bike around campus, he likes how the snow looks.
"I like the serenity of nature when it snows," he said. "Also, I like the color."
Graduate student Sharad Shrestha experienced snow in his home country, Nepal, on the mountains and hills, but not on flat ground. The region he lived in experienced temperatures of around 20 degrees Fahrenheit, but he has heard it sometimes drops to around 20 degrees below zero here.
Pipalapalli was excited to to decorate a Christmas tree, make decorations, visit a church in the U.S. for the holidays and celebrate the New Years holiday.
Though she doesn’t love cold weather, she has visited churches in India and was in choir, coming from a background that makes her eager to learn more about holiday traditions in the U.S.
Before coming to the U.S., she had seen pictures of winter in the U.S. online. As an international student here for the first time, she shared her own pictures of the snowfall with her friends and posted them on social media.
“I want everyone to experience the snow,” she said.
