Listen to the following VOA Special English and fill in the blanks with the word(s) you hear. Moving from one place to another is always an adventure. No amount of research can prepare you for the surprises you will find in the new place. This is often the case with international students in the United States. Around major American holidays, international students often find themselves in uncharted waters, which they learn to (1) with time. Come the fourth Thursday in November, many newly arrived students experience the U.S. holiday of Thanksgiving for the first time. "My first Thanksgiving was in Montana. My experience of it was (2) ," said Richmond Danso of Ghana. "The whole process of preparing the food, the merry making around it, and everything was just fascinating," he said. Danso is a doctoral (3) in political science at Howard University in Washington, DC. Other international students look at Thanksgiving as a chance to (4) . Dan Shengquan of China, a master's degree candidate at New York University, told VOA his first memory of the holiday was having a few days (5) from school. "It was like end of semester4 day off, having time to (6) ," said Dan Shengquan, who admitted knowing very few people on arriving at school. "But these days," he added, "I get a chance to visit my friends' family and join their family party." Around Christmas, many international students do not have money to travel back to their home country, so they spend the holiday in the States. Those with (7) family in the country go to stay with them for the celebrations. "When it's Christmas, I go back to my family in New York," said Daniel Mensah of Ghana. Mensah is in his final year at The George Washington University in Washington. He is (8) in economics. International students with no extended family in the States often celebrate Christmas with their American friends and their families. Lourds Fernando from Sri Lanka is a doctoral candidate in biology at Howard University. She told VOA she celebrates Christmas with her best friend whose family lives in Maryland. "So I'll go there," she said. "Her family is there so I'll go for dinner or something." Some international students who are Christian (9) in the States. During the holiday season, they join with their church family in celebrating Christmas. "Personally, I think it's more the family element. I have a church family here, so the excitement of spending Christmas: we go to church and we stay together," said Sally Amankwah of Ghana. She is a masters' candidate in (10) at American University in Washington. The act of giving gifts to adults at Christmas and even the holiday itself (11) some students. Selina Anosike of Nigeria is a doctoral candidate in biology at Howard University. She has been living in the United States for about two years. Anosike says she was shocked when family members living in the States gave her gifts for Christmas. "I remember my first Christmas here, I really did not know anything about the (12) . I just realized my uncle got me a gift, my aunt got me a gift, and my cousingot me a gift, but I did not get anyone a gift," she said. "It was a new experience for me because back home, as kids, while you're still young, your parents will get you a new (13) , new shoes, new dresses for Christmas, up until high school. But by the time you get to college, no one cares anymore," she added. For some international students, Christmas is not a holiday they celebrate in their home country. "We don't really do Christmas in China," said Bo Wang of China. He is a master's candidate in business analytics at American University. Wuntha Kyaw-san of Myanmar is studying computer science at Howard University. He told VOA that the idea of celebrating Christmas (14) him. "Since we don't actually celebrate Christmas back home, it's like a new experience, you know," he said. During the three to four weeks (15) between school terms, some international students take time to explore the United States. "Usually, I go to other places in the States, travelling with my friends," Wang said. "For this year, I plan to go to Denver to (16) for my Christmas holiday." Other students do (17) over winter break. They spend the holiday working, meeting up with friends and having fun. "Now (as graduate student), it's always work because, you know, research is (18) ," Lourds Fernando said, "so I rarely take a break, even though it's a break for the school."