More than 90 Dickinson community members gathered to celebrate cuisine and culture from more than 15 countries around the world in the third annual International Dinner.

Aimed to create a welcoming atmosphere and show hospitality for all members of the Dickinson community and to give everyone an opportunity to represent his or her culture and learn from each other, the dinner was co-hosted by “We Introduce Nations at Dickinson” (WIND) and Dickinson Christian Fellowship (DCF.)

“It was initially [DCF’s] idea to host a big feast,” said Nastia Khlopina ’18 from Russia who was the previous president and founder of WIND. Adhering to the Christian fundamental ideas of community, DCF wanted to reach out to more students, especially those who came from abroad to offer them a welcoming first experience at Dickinson as they conclude their first month in the new country.

“We did a lot of work to reach out to inform and engage different cultural clubs on campus in this dinner. Without them, this could not be successful” said Stephanie Teeuwen ’20 from the Netherlands and president of WIND.

According to Teeuwen, this year’s dinner is quite different from those in past years.  The organizers predominantly hoped to reflect the themes of family, sharing and contribution at the event. According to Khlopina and Teeuwen, in order to have everyone sit down and converse about stories behind the dishes, exchange different cultural experiences and make new friends around the globe, participants were asked to bring a cultural dish, decorations or national flags to the dinner venue.

“I was very impressed by how the dinner was organized this year,” said Harry Qiu ’20, a Chinese student. “I brought one of the most common and featured Chinese dish[es]:Hongshaorou [a braised pork in brown sauce] because it represented my hometown, Shanghai. I had a chance to talk about my hometown to other students at the table. I was also able to recognize other cuisines such as those from Bulgaria and Zimbabwe…I could finally see their cooking style, it was amazing.”

Many participants had hoped to reflect upon their hometowns at this event. Lynette-Ann ’20, from Ghana, presented her home dish kelewele, which is a seasoned and fried plantain. “I’m here to represent my country, Ghana, and kelewele is a very common snack in my hometown. It’s easy to cook and very popular among folks.”

Simona Bajgai ’20 of Nepal prepared dal makhani for the dinner. “It’s a type of Nepali pork soup,” she said of her dish. “I brought this simply because I miss home and I want to have some familiar Nepali flavor. Dal makhani is perfect because [it] is easy to cook and is a very common family dish in Nepal.

Jiyoon Kim ’20, hailing from South Korea, shared Korean spicy chicken. “It’s basically boiled chicken,” he said. “We also put Korean traditional sauce in it [but today] we made it less spicy to accommodate everyone’s taste.”

Many participants enjoyed the event. “The dinner tonight is so memorable,” said Songeun Kim ’20 of South Korea. “I tried Nigerian donuts, Chinese chicken, Nepali soup, Pad Thai [and] they were all so delicious and I got to eat foods from other countries which doesn’t happen that often on campus. I also heard stories behind the food and made new friends, it was amazing.”

Some participants also brought cultural decoration to the dinner to introduce their unique culture. Doha Ahmed, visiting Fulbright Scholar and Arabic language Overseas Student Assistant [OSA] from Egypt decorated a corner of the Social Hall with traditional Egyptian clothing and posters. “I love this event,” she smiled. “I was excited to see so much diversity at Dickinson, I’m passionate to introduce my culture and learn from others.”

The dinner concluded with the idea of sustainability. Sophie Kirkman ’19 from Zimbabwe, a Center for Sustainability Education (CSE) student worker, put up a recycling station next to the exit of the Social Hall. Following the event, Kirkman and the other volunteers then sorted the waste. According to Kirkman, there was very little landfill waste as most of the waste was either recyclable or compostable.

Khlopina also stated that WIND was very thankful for those who helped make the event happen, participants and supporters alike. “Join WIND! It’s a lot of fun,” said Corson Ellis ’20 from Massachusetts. “It’s definitely worth it,” he asserted.

The third annual international dinner was held Tuesday, Sept. 26 at 6:30 p.m.