Foreign-born Herald writers Yoshiaki Nohara and Katya Yefimova, and Alejandro Dominguez, a reporter with The Herald’s Spanish language partner La Raza del Noroeste, visited elementary school classrooms to learn about Thanksgiving.
They spoke with kindergartners in Deborah Vincelette’s class at Shoultes Elementary School in Marysville and in Traci Adams’ class at Fryelands Elementary School in Monroe, and with first- and second-grade students in Amy Stimac’s class at Fryelands.
Meet the interviewers
Alejandro Dominguez is no stranger to the Thanksgiving celebration. He grew up at the border city of Juarez, Chihuahua, Mexico, just a couple of miles away from El Paso, Texas. However, his idea of Thanksgiving is waking very early in the morning, eating a sandwich, crossing the border and taking advantage of the sales for the day.
He graduated with a bachelor’s degree in English and electronic media from the University of Texas at El Paso in 2006. He works for the Spanish weekly newspaper La Raza del Noroeste. He will celebrate his first Thanksgiving as an American citizen with his family in El Paso.
Yoshiaki Nohara truly appreciates the Thanksgiving celebration. He has no desire, though, to go shopping after eating big, not to mention waiting in the cold for stores to open.
Nohara, born and raised in Yamaguchi, Japan, came to America in July 2000. After getting a master’s degree in journalism from the University of Montana, Nohara joined The Herald in 2004. He covers business news for the paper. He plans to celebrate this Thanksgiving with his friends in Snohomish County.
Katya Yefimova didn’t know much about the fine holiday of Thanksgiving until her visit to Fryelands Elementary School. She was born and raised in Kazakhstan, one of the countries of the former Soviet Union, where Thanksgiving isn’t celebrated.
Yefimova is the night crime reporter at The Herald. She graduated from the University of Washington in 2008 with a bachelor’s degree in journalism and comparative literature. She moved to Seattle in 2004, but she misses her family and friends who still live in Almaty, Kazakhstan.
This year, she will attempt to cook a traditional turkey dinner for her husband and cat.
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