News Photo by Temi Fadayomi Alpena High School foreign exchange students, from left to right, Santiago Diaz Teran, Camille Pages, and Sara Couto Vasquez pose by a Christmas tree at Alpena High School on Thursday.

ALPENA — With Christmas just around the corner, many Alpena High School students prepare in the hopes of making lasting memories. One group of students who will have especially unique memories are the foreign exchange students who will be experiencing Christmas in America for the first time.

According to Alpena High School’s foreign exchange program coordinator, Lori Vought, the Christmas season can be a challenging time for foreign exchange students, many of whom would be experiencing their first Christmas ever away from their friends, families, and traditions from their home countries.

“If a student is going to become homesick, this is the time of year that they get homesick,” said Vought.

This sentiment is echoed by exchange students Sara Couto Vasquez from Spain, Camille Pages from France, and Santiago Diaz Teran from Mexico.

“It’s hard because I was never that far from my home,” said Vasquez. “(Christmas) is something that we always do like a family.”

“It’s hard to be far from my family during this time,” said Pages.

“I miss my family, obviously,” said Teran. “And, some of my traditions in Mexico.”

When it comes to the traditions of the various exchange students, the activities can vary in familiarity. Pages state that her Christmas traditions back in France consist of opening presents on Christmas Eve and going to church the next day.

“For Christmas, my whole family just gathers together on the 24th,” said Pages “Usually after Christmas Eve dinners, we open up the presents and go to church on the 24th or the 25th.”

For Teran, he claims that his traditions also consist of rather mundane activities; however, he also mentions a celebration referred to as Posadas which he describes as an additional Christmas party with a pinata.

“In Mexico, my family’s really nothing special, we do a normal dinner with my close family,” said Teran. “We also have a party named Posadas. It’s a Christmas party with a pinata.”

Vasquez, on the other hand, mentions three separate Christmas season celebrations.

“In Spain, we have three types of celebrations on Christmas,” said Vasquez. “We have this Santa Claus thing, then we have New Year where we eat 12 grapes in the last 12 seconds of the year, and then we have the three kings that is the sixth of January.”

Despite everything though, the exchange students express enjoyment in some of the changes and different traditions present in America and look forward to Christmas Day.

“I like being with my host family and they have their own traditions,” said Pages. “It will be interesting and very fun to be with them and celebrate Christmas.”

“There’s one thing that I love from America that is how I imagined it is all the house decorations,” said Vasquez. “All the houses with all the lights, it’s very American.”

“In my city, it’s very warm during Christmas time,” said Teran. “Here it is very cold so it feels like a real Christmas.”