How do you celebrate Christmas being away from home and your family?
Key Points
- According to the 2021 census, there were over 572,000 international students who studied in Australia for the January-December 2021 period.
- In the same period, there were 14,356 international students from the Philippines.
- To celebrate Christmas the Filipino way, many Filipino international students gather together to make Christmas feels like home.
Filipino international students in New South Wales find the true spirit of Christmas with fellow Pinoy students as they share their time and even their homes to celebrate the festive season.
The Filipino Student Council of New South Wales and its affiliate Filipino student organisations organise several Christmas gathering for its members so they will still feel at home while they are away from their families and are in Australia this Christmas.
A boodle-fight style lunch is popular to celebrate Christmas among Filipino students in NSW. Kamayan, the traditional Filipino way of eating — without utensils, is the way to do it.
International student Lisette Isles from Western Sydney University and Sydney-based Katrina Lopez from Macquarie University share their respective Filipino student society's way of celebrating Christmas.
