International students discuss their plans for Halloween

There is no doubt that Miami loves Halloween, and with everything from public trick-or-treating events to exclusive themed parties, there is no shortage of ways to celebrate. To U.S. natives, these festivities are nothing new, but some international students are about to experience Halloween night for the first time.

Dragica Kovac is one of these students. She is currently studying in the University of Miami’s law school, spending a year in America as a visiting scholar. Comenius University, her home university, is located in Bratislava, Slovakia. Because her home country does not celebrate Halloween, Kovac said she is looking forward to experiencing the festivities for the first time.

“Especially my children, they already cannot wait to celebrate it,” she said. “They will get dressed as M&Ms, and I will paint myself as a human skeleton. My husband has no interest in Halloween, so he will be our driver.”

Junior chemistry major Nandana Bhasin is getting ready for her third Halloween in Miami. She is originally New Delhi, India, and has lived in Brickell for more than three years while studying at UM. People in India don’t typically celebrate Halloween, so Bhasin has made it a point to get involved with the American festivities.

“From the first year I was here, I tried to seize every opportunity to experience Halloween every year,” she said.

Bhasin has no plan for a Halloween costume, but she isn’t letting that stop her from having a good time. She plans on celebrating the holiday at the Brickell City Centre’s trick-or-treat event.

“I just want to enjoy the festival atmosphere, but do not want to spend too much time or energy on it,” Bhasin said.

Different from the above two students, Diêm Nhung could always celebrate Halloween in her hometown of Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam. Nhung is studying finance and accounting in the Miami Business School and this is her fifth year here.

She said much like Miami, cities in Vietnam can get pretty crazy on Halloween. She described a street named Phố tây Bùi Viện in Ho Chi Minh City that is always full of crowds for Halloween.

“People from the street will do you a free Halloween makeup, and you would see a lot of foreigners there,” Nhung said. “People from Phố tây Bùi Viện love Halloween.”

However, she said she doesn’t plan on partaking in the Halloween festivities this year because she is busy with school and work.

” I will just stay at the library, study study study, and see others celebrating it,” Nhung said.

Featured image source: Flickr.com, @Lisa@SierraTerra