To honor and celebrate International Education Week (IEW), the International Student Program hosted their annual International Food Festival at the Fireside Dining Room on November 16, 2022. Due to the pandemic, the food festival was held virtually for the last two years, but as the Covid-19 restrictions have lowered, we decided to do this event in-person again. This event was a huge success as students, staff, and faculty where able to experience seeing traditional clothes and were able to taste food from different countries like Brazil, China, Indonesia, Greece, Japan, Myanmar, Philippines, and the United States.
The festival started off by students representing themselves for each country in their traditional and modern clothes and serve people bite-size traditional food from their country. At the Indonesia table, not only they served savory finger food like kerupuk and martabak, they also served drinks like teh botol. They also tried to decorate their table with Angklung, a traditional Sundanese musical instrument made out of bamboo; Batik, a cloth where its pattern is made with a waxing technique originated from the Indonesian island of Java; and Wayang, a traditional Indonesian puppet made out of leather. At the Myanmar table, the student’s welcome people by wearing their traditional clothing called Longgyi and served delicious food like See Htamin & Kyauk Kyaw. At the Philippines table, they served Pancit Malabon. While the Brazil table served plenty of savory food like coyinhas, risoles, kibes, and rabo de tatu canudinho. At the American, Greece, China, and Japan tables, they served cornbread, gyros, pork and veggie dimsum, and sushi respectively. Each table at the food festival also had a food allergy notice to inform people about the potential allergens in the food and beverages they will be consuming.
The International Student Program is part of the Global Learning Programs and Services Division at Skyline College. If you wish to learn more about ISP, don’t hesitate to contact the ISP Office at skyinternational@smccd.edu.
Article by Lasheana Dilian Husni | Photos by Clair Yeo-Sugajski