By Mathias Altman-Kurosaki
Staff Writer
Students visited the Education Building Room 212 to learn that the College has a lot more diversity than meets the eye— the room was full of students studying at the College from across the globe who were all eager to share fun facts and food about their home countries.
Trip Around the World, which due to snow was rescheduled due to Nov. 27 at 8:30 p.m., was originally meant to happen on Nov. 15, during International Education Week, which lasted from Nov. 12 to Nov. 16. IEW is the joint initiative of the U.S. Department of State and the U.S. Department of Education created to help promote more awareness of global influence, and to attract future students wishing to study abroad in the U.S.
The event also featured an international fashion show, which showcased clothing indigenous to different countries such as Thailand, Japan and Mexico. There were also performances from TCNJ Dragonflies, a Chinese based dance group, and TCNJ Saathiya, an Indian fusion dance team. The event was organized hosted by Residential Education and the Center for Global Engagement. Cosponsors included the Japanese Student Association, the International and Domestic Students Organization, the Spanish Club and more.
While most students involved were natives of the country they were displaying, others were domestic students involved in many of the campus’s cultural clubs who felt a greater interest towards learning about different countries.
“I had a general interest in Japan before joining the JSA, but I became more interested in the country and actually started taking Japanese,” said Pablo Cardenas, a junior history major who has been a part of the JSA since his freshman year.
Much of the international cuisine was both different yet comparable to American food — Australian Tim Tams, which consists of two chocolate covered biscuits with a thin layer of chocolate cream, were similar to other chocolate-covered wafer treats. Even Haribo, a popular German candy company also found in American supermarkets, was on display.
The students representing their native countries were also intrigued by the surrounding cultures.
“I became interested in Japan and India by looking at their posters, and I also learned that it takes 27 years to visit every beach in Australia,” said Viktor Holst, a junior English secondary education dual major from Germany.
Students were also impressed by the presentations and were grateful that the event allowed them to connect with new people from unfamiliar organizations.
“I was originally at the event to just chill, but the performances and fashion show were pretty cool, especially the Chinese costume,” said Rory Webber, a freshman political science major.
