This week thousands of Iowa State students are packing bags with their minds focused on turkey, mashed potatoes, apple pie and stuffing.

However, in all of the excitement, some international students do not have that luxury and are unable to travel home for Thanksgiving. 

While many international students plan to travel to American cities during break, a number of students are staying on campus.

The International Students and Scholars Office will be taking some students on two trips over fall break.

For their first trip, they are taking a group of about 30 students to Kansas City from Nov. 22 to  Nov. 25. They will be shopping at the Plaza Shopping Center, taking a “Gangster Tour” around old parts of the city, exploring a sculpture garden, walking through museums and much more.

“We communicate with them by having a blog and emails being sent out every month. We also communicate through Facebook and Twitter,” said Prerana Ganguly, undergraduate assistant for the International Students and Scholars Office.

Another option is taking a day trip to Des Moines by bus to visit Jordan Creek Mall Nov. 28, also known as “Black Friday,” a day when stores offer a number of sales.

The bus will arrive at Jordan Creek Mall at 7.50 a.m. on Nov. 28. The cost of the trip is $15 per person.

“I am staying in the dorms during break. I miss my family very much and being away from them is hard. It took me 22 hours to fly here, and the plane tickets were very expensive, so it would be difficult to go home during this break,” said Yiwei He, freshman in engineering from China. 

Student’s travel from all over the world to attend Iowa State, but in some cases, the trip is to far to go home for shorter breaks. If students who live in the dorms choose to stay on campus during break, they are welcome to stay throughout the whole week.

“I am thinking about taking the bus to Des Moines for Black Friday shopping,” He said. “My friend follows the [International Students and Scholars Office] Facebook page and thinks that it will be fun.”

A few international students who are not attending the trips have big plans for break too.

“My mom is coming from South Korea to get me, then we are going to New York for the Thanksgiving holiday. My mom has never been out of the country, so we are very nervous and amazed,” said Sunhee Park, freshman in journalism and mass communication from South Korea.

Chenghao Wang, freshman in psychology from China, also has plans to leave Ames for fall break.

“I’m taking a bus to Chicago with my friend to go Black Friday shopping,” Wang said. “I’m staying in a hotel for three days.”

Located in the Memorial Union, the International Students and Scholars Office is available for any questions or concerns international students may have. They help with orientation, setting up housing arrangements and generally just getting them settled.