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When one attends the International Coffee Hours for the first time, it is hard not to feel like you are entering the home of a friend for a party. The Cosmopolitan Club house welcomes you with its warm and comfortable home furnishing and the beat of music coming from an interior room. The music you are hearing is most likely sung in the language of tonight’s host—one of the many cultural clubs on campus. As you take in the atmosphere, you find students of all ages and backgrounds surround you. People’s conversations create a melody of multiple languages and dialects. This may be your tenth visit to the Cosmopolitan Club house, or, maybe, this is your first time in the Cosmopolitan Club house. Either way, the aroma of savory foods, or sweet desserts, makes your stomach grumble as you wait in line for the uniquely distinctive national foods that the night’s hosts are presenting. After eating, there are presentations about the host’s nation, educating Coffee Hours attendees about the nation’s culture and history. To end the night’s events, most groups celebrate with a demonstration of dance and everyone joins in to the beat of the music. This has been my experience this semester attending the wonderful International Coffee Hours on Thursday evenings. At first I didn’t know what to expect—as a Champaign local I’ve known numerous students throughout the years who participated in hosting a Coffee Hour, but I myself never attended one, and I have no good excuse as to why. Now I regret having missed out on the many events over the years. I have met so many interesting people over the semester. In the many conversations I have had the pleasure of participating in, it has become clear that Cosmopolitan Club house and the Coffee Hours play an important role in the lives of many students. For some students it is a space where they can relax and just be themselves-speak their native tongue without pressure to speak English, eat familiar foods, be content knowing that many of the people around them have shared similar experiences of being an international student in a foreign land. For others, Cosmopolitan House is a place to enjoy good homemade food, show appreciation of another’s culture, have fun with current friends, and create new friendships. Whatever the reason, the International Coffee Hours is a place where many people of different nationalities are able to come together and share an experience together. Even more important, it is a place where people can appreciate and share differences while also finding commonalities. I hope to see you there! |