Clarion-Ledger from Jackson, Mississippi • Page A7

The Clarion-Ledger 26,2015 7A All Christmas Decor Great Selection Still Available Highland Village 601-366-3884 FF rolled in Millsaps College, ays cost is a hindrance. A heck of common airliners such as Delta, show a flight from Jackson to Seoul, runs a minimum of 1,500. mbracing the festive hristmas spirit has been amood-booster for the 21- year-old anthropology major and music minor, who last saw his family during the summer. "I don't have my family. Ihave to cope with things and celebrate it in my own way," he said.

Noh is residing in a campus dormitory, along with nine other students taying in the States over he break. He says the group is "glad they have ach other" and has become a makeshift family of sorts. We all stayed on campus last year, so we know how to spend winter break productively," said Noh. Earlier in the week they attended a sushi- making event organized by the college's interna- ional student adviser. Monday they watched "The Family Stone," a ome-for-the-holidays movie starring Diane Keaton as an eccentric matri- a rch.

An excursion to the outlet mall to experience the rush of last-minute shopping was also on their agenda. A American class- ate of Noh's will host im for Christmas dinner, a nd he's looking forward the celebration. Being more involved in the holiday, he said, helps him feel closer to home. Loye Ashton, the direct or of the Center for Intern ational Studies and Globa Change at Tougaloo College, believes entertaining students during the holidays provides an op- ortunity for growth outs ide of the classroom. isiting students, he says, are often curious about what the holiday looks like for ordinary Americans, outside of the "hype" surrounding shopping.

During the break, Ashton strikes a balance between recognizing students' independence and making sure they have a place to stay. his year he invited wo Egyptian students to his home for Christmas. My wife is Japanese so she knows what it's like to live in a different culture. he understands what this experience is like too," he said. "Certainly, we want them to know that they're part of our family for the day." As a father to two boys, ages 3 and 11, Ashton ants his sons to have the experience of learning about different cultures.

osting students provides the perfect opportunity. It's a sentiment that elhaven University student Christian Davis shares. On Wednesday afternoon, the junior sat on a ouch in her Belhaven ome, flanked by Evelyn ark and Sumin Kim, two of the South Korean students she befriended this emester. Watching the trio interact, it's hard to believe they've only known each other for a few months. Park and Kim are studying as part of a one- year exchange partners hip between Seoul University and Belhaven.

arm temperatures and hearing that Southerners are "nice and weet" influenced Park's decision to pick Jackson as a place to strengthen her English skills. For Park and Kim, Da- vis embodies the idea of "the Hospitality State." A a double major in international and cultural studies with a deep appreciation for Korean culture, Davis often helps visiting students transition with ease. She's also enlisted her amily in the effort. Seldom does she venture home to Biloxi without ompany. With five other siblings, the Davis household is a full one, but more a re always welcome.

Christmas is celebrated in South Korea similarly to the United States, with a few differences, many of them culinary. Park and Davis are look- i ng forward to sampling traditional holiday fare, like dressing. During Thanksgiving, the pair was introduced to regional favorites that appear on many Southern dinner tables. Sweet potatoes arned Davis' seal of approval, while Park was a fan of cornbread. Although their pro- ram ends in May, Davis won't be far away.

She's made plans to study abroad next year, and Kim is eager to introduce her arents to her American riend that's she often told hem about on Skype. Nearly three years have passed, since Vimala Lingam, a Jackson State niversity doctoral stud ent, saw her family in Ind ia. As a Hindu, she has found support through a local temple and a religious society. Still, not being able to join her peers in reuniting with loved ones over the break is hard. "You just make peace with it," Lingam said of homesickness.

Although she practices Hinduism, Lingam recog- izes Christmas in her wn way, explaining that she likes the idea of unity. ast year, she and a group of friends had dinner at IHOP before going the movies on the holiday. This year she plans to do something similar. "When you don't get to go home, your friends are your family," Lingam said. Contact Bracey Harris at (601) 961-7248 or email Follow on Twitter.

JUSTIN CLARION-LEDGER Sumin Kim, center, and Evelyn Park, right, are in a one-year exchange partnership between eoul University and Belhaven. Belhaven student Christian Davis invited them to spend Christmas with her at home in Biloxi. Students Continued from Page 1A Digging out Meanwhile, Christmas Day for Larry a nd Sonja Wilkins and daughter Marquita Streeter was spent digging through a debris field that stretched hundreds of yards for any personal effects that might be left of their Holly Springs home. Other destroyed homes in the area bear a big orange to show been searched for survivors, but the home, which used to sit on the side of Mississippi 6 in Holly Springs, ave one, because there is nothing left of i t. The structure itself is gone, swept a way in storm outbreak.

Sonja said she never leaves the house during the day. On a normal day, she would have been there with their son, but Marquita had convinced her to go on a shopping trip. While they were away, they got the call from a neighbor that the house was gone. told her that my son was still in the house, was his car still Sonja said. arry and son, Bruce Streeter, had been sucked out of the double-wide mobile home when it was blown from its foundation.

He was dropped into a tree, from which he fell to the ground. He was able to fashion a stick into a crutch and make it to Highway 6, where he was picked up by some passersby and taken to an ambulance. Bruce spent Christmas Day in the Med in Memphis. has lacerations all over that they mended yesterday, and his pelvis is said Sonja, growing emotional. God is still good.

what I keep saying through all of this is that God is still good. He is still good, you Larry walked around the perimeter of where his home had been. He had made it as secure as he could through the years bricking around the base. He had plans to brick it all the way in, but they come to fruition yet. Sonja had talked to him a few times about a storm helter.

should have gotten Larry aid, recalling trying to get back to his home after he got the call about the damage. I got here, they let me down here, and the next day when I ame, it really was a shock. It was more han what I thought see. I always hought it was anchored Sonja could see the white zipper bag that held her wedding dress, just out of reach, which she was finally able to retrieve, and it was mostly unharmed. As he made her way out of the deep thicket here the storm had deposited most of hat had been their home, she stopped and looked down.

are my she said as she picked up her dentures from underneath a tree limb, ringing a smile to her and faces. did you find the Larry asked, and they indicated the part of the hicket where it had been located. Well, wherever the dress was, here my shotgun is supposed to he said. I spite of the great loss, the family was clinging to the fact that they were all still alive. While Bruce is injured, his wounds will heal, and they will rebuild on heir land, Larry said.

Sonja added that it has been such a ift to see the kindness of people in the midst of disaster. that we got through, we turn on the TV and see terrorists and tuff like that, and stuff like this, but people still come she said. not a bout color, not about any of that, I care, people come together and help each not a typical holiday miracle. is still Christmas, even though not in a home, Christmas is a time where you get together with your family and friends and be thankful for what you do Sonja said. thankful, people have invited us for din- er, and thankful for that.

going get something to eat and have Christ- as dinner at the Med with my son. Christmas is still Burglarized Kyndra Bowen was in her home with her grandmother and her two hildren when the storm hit, tearing the house up but leaving it standing, or the most part. After that, though, burglars took what the storm She said grateful for the Red Cross and the other volunteer organi- ations that set up the command center at the Multipurpose Building on North emphis Street in Holly Springs. she said. happy that not gone.

bad, but going to be all Justin Holpe, manager of the command center at the Multipurpose Building, said been floored at how the disaster has brought the best out of people. He said that gives him hope that the city will recover. just grow from this point, we rebuild and grow, and we pray and work he said. Overall, Marshall County had more han 185 structures damaged, Emergency Management Director Hugh Hollowell said. unlike anything ever seen before.

lived in the county all my life, and old, and we experienced anything this devastating in one he said. a lot of other cities and counties have had a lot worse than what we had. We were blessed. We had two fatalities, which is too many, but we were blessed that we have more considering the amount of damage we Holly Springs Mayor Kelvin Buck aid encouraged at how citizens of his city and county have rallied, and how visitors and volunteers have come out of the woodwork to help. This has been a very very traumat- i experience for all of us.

Any time got people you see every day, churches been to and wor- hiped in, demolished, rough especially at this time of he said. recover. get over this and be stronger than he National Weather Service initially said the tornado that hit Holly prings, which started around Clarksdale and blazed a trail across the state and into Tennessee, was an EF-3 according to a preliminary evaluation. A nother team is set to re-evaluate the damage today. Contact Therese Apel at nett.com.

Follow Twitter. Storms Continued from Page 1A THOMAS NORTHEAST ISSISSIPPI DAILY JOURNAL VIA AP Trista Boga, center, helps salvage what she can from home along Mississippi 178 in Holly Springson Thursday following deadly tornadoes Wednesday. is still Christmas, even though not in a home, Christmas is a time where you get together with your family and friends and be thankful for what you do have. thankful, people have invited us for dinner, and thankful for SONJA WILKINS STAN OMMERCIAL APPEAL VIA AP Gov. Phil Bryant, center right, inspects tornado damage Thursdayin A shland.

Emergency officials said severe weather destroyed dozens cars, homes and businesses..