Students traveled the world during the International Banquet on NE Campus Nov. 17.
Students representing Jordan, Nepal, Vietnam, Puerto Rico, Russia, Austria and the United States shared their country’s culture, food and answered questions.
NE Phi Theta Kappa vice president of scholarships Jessica Alexander said the event was intended to be relaxed and dialogue-based.
“It’s kind of like study abroad without putting all the money and time into it,” she said.
“We’re trying to make that available and make them start thinking about it.
NE students Hang Vu and Quang Nguyen represented Vietnam. They brought yellow-bean Vietnamese donuts and egg rolls for students to sample in addition to traditional dresses for students to try on.
“We’re introducing food, languages, the Vietnamese alphabet,” Vu said. “I brought these [dresses] for students to try on and take a picture.”
NE student Aseel Alsoub represented Jordan and said she was excited to talk about her home country.
“I want to show people what Jordan looks like first,” Alsoub said. “I want to tell them about the demographics, religion, the culture, the food, just basic information. Whatever they ask, I want to answer.”
NE student Ilya “Elijah” Zelenov said his family won the green card lottery and moved from Russia to the United States.
“I have a shawl, some sort of centerpiece or tablecloth. We’ve had this for generations,” Zelenov said.
He also had a ceremonial tea set, Russian nesting dolls and a traditional hat.
In addition to the banquet, a new international wall was added to the
Subway dining room featuring pictures of international students.
— Dylan Bradley
