While most students are packing up their laundry and arranging carpools to head home for the holidays, others are staying behind in Ames because home is just too far away.

But international students who are unable to make the long trip home have alternatives to spending the holidays in the dorms.

“Many students visit families and friends in the United States,” said Amy Mukamuri, program coordinator for International Education Services. “Some get involved with their church.”

For those who want a local holiday experience, a program called Friendships International, sponsored by International Education Services and the Intensive English Orientation Program, works to help international students adjust to life in America by pairing them with host families in the Ames community.

The families and students involved in Friendships International “make arrangements to meet on an individual basis,” said Virginia McCallum, director of the program at International Education Services.

Students get together with the families at various times of the year to get to know each other.

They send cards to each other on birthdays and Valentine’s Day, go shopping together and sometimes celebrate Thanksgiving, Christmas and other holidays, depending on the family and the needs of the student, she said.

“This fall we had 25 Americans and 30 international students representing 12 different countries,” McCallum said.

Dorte Poulsen, a business major, has a host family in Ames.

“Last Sunday we did the tree decorations, and we also went to Des Moines to watch the Christmas lights. Next week we will be going ice skating,” she said, though she will be going home to Denmark later this holiday break.

Poulsen said Friendships International is a way for her to get acquainted with American culture.

“It’s a good opportunity,” she said.

Chin-Hsun “Ken” Tsai, junior in marketing and president of the International Student Council, will be staying in Ames over winter break.

Some international students will attend a conference in Minneapolis for international students, he said.

“They go there and have fun with other people,” Tsai said.

He also encourages students to apply for a host family with Friendships International “to know more about American culture.”

Christmas International House is another program for international students during semester break.

The program sets up students with families in a way similar to Friendships International, but Christmas International gives students a different view of the country.

“The students live with families anywhere in the United States, ” McCallum said.

The program is free, but the students have to pay for transportation, she said.

This semester, six ISU students took advantage of the program, McCallum said.

More information and applications for next year can be found at www.christmasih.org.