Arts & Culture
Participants of last year’s International Dinner celebrate the diversity of their cultures.
International Club to present world cuisines
The Pointer
lgern177@uwsp.edu
Although the end of spring break usually means leaving exotic culture and gastronomical adventure behind until the next hiatus, this year that won’t be necessary.
The 39th annual International Dinner on April 4, which will be held in the Laird room of the Dreyfus University Center from 5:30-9:30 p.m., might lack the sun and warmth of your spring break destination, but it will have an array of food and entertainment not typically found in Stevens Point.
The dinner is hosted by the University of Wisconsin-Stevens Point’s International Club, which was founded by the Foreign Student Office. This year’s theme is “global connection” and will feature decorations, like photos of cities, from around the world.
International Club’s president, Won Jun Cha, said over the years the event has expanded in terms of attendance and volunteers.
“In the past, there was not as much involvement on the part of American students,” he said. “Now, students from the Peace Center, Student Government Association and the Black Student Union have been helping more.”
Individuals from around the Stevens Point area are all welcome to volunteer to help with cooking, entertainment, set-up, hospitality, video and photography of the event. Volunteers have already been meeting weekly since February to organize and plan for an expected list of around 300 guests.
“This is just a great way to get in touch with the Stevens Point community,” Cha said. “It’s great that so many people want to help out.”
He said students from the International Club will represent their cultures by presenting regional dishes, taking part in the talent show and displaying traditional garb in the fashion show held toward the end of the night.
Dishes on the menu are from countries as far-ranging as Korea, France, Japan, India, Peru, Thailand, Australia and many more. International Club members and community and student volunteers will do all of the cooking for the dinner.
Some featured menu items include kimbap, beef bibimpab and ginko seeds from Korea, caviar crackers from France, Gyoza from Japan, shrimp crackers from India, Causa Rellena from Peru, glass noodles and a three-flavor salmon dish from Thailand, Hmong spring rolls, meatballs from South America and Lamingtons from Australia.
A vegetarian menu, consisting of vegetarian bibimpab from Korea and vegetarian masala with prata from India, will also be offered.
When the guests are fully satiated from these exotic dishes, a short intermission will take place before 12 entertainers will take the stage to perform for three-to-four minutes each. This portion of the evening will be open to the public.
Applications for auditioning to perform at the International Dinner are still open until the March 20. Auditions will take place on March 23.
For more information on the event, please contact the UW-SP Foreign Student Office or e-mail International Club at iclub@uwsp.edu. Tickets are $15 per person and can be purchased at the Universiy Information and Tickets Office in the DUC, or by calling 715-346-4100.
