As with most dinners, the day started in the kitchen. I was occupying with my Japanese housemate Sumiko Nakamura the Cosmo kitchen for the whole Sunday before the dinner, in order to prepare many dishes for 500 hungry people in the evening. While I was preparing my German Noodle Salad-a very healthy German dish consisting of noodles, ham, mushrooms, tomatoes, bell peppers, broccoli, sour cream and spices-I learned a lot about Japanese food.
Sumiko and her friends prepared traditional Japanese foods and, even better, she explained a lot about it. For example, they cooked Yakisoba, a fried noodle dish, which is Japanese street food enjoyed during summer festivals. The next dish was Kare-raisu (Japanese curry and rice). This food is one of the most favorite foods among school kids. Her cousin, who loves this food, would almost die if he couldn't eat this at least once a week.
The food preparation was followed immediately by serving it. This year we served 40 dishes provided by 28 nations. In order to get so much food on a small plate the people on the buffet had to be very creative. Most of the people tried everything out and when they came to my German Noodle Salad they showed me a tiny spot on their plate where I could add a very small scoop of it.
Emcees Anand Ranganathan from India and Batamaka Some from Burkina Faso told jokes and asked the people trivia questions in the large YMCA. Did you know that the highest waterfall in the world is in Venezuela and has the cool name Angel Falls? Did you know that coffee originated from Ethiopia and not from South America? And potatoes-a traditional German and Irish food-originally came from Peru?
The food was followed by performances from some of the many international groups here on campus. The Philippine Student Association performed the Paseo, a courtship dance. Chinese Martial Arts were presented. My personal favorite was a dance performed by six girls from Israel.
The John Price Award was given to Andres Fernandez my long-term housemate and friend at the Cosmopolitan Club. Andres was given this award because of his outstanding work with international students and as manager of Cosmo House. Afterwards, we celebrated his award in the Cosmo kitchen and we have been all very happy after this wonderful international day.
The 21st Annual International Dinner and Performance Night was our largest event this year, but we have many smaller Dinners, and every Thursday a coffee hour, in our Club house. The coffee hours are the best opportunity to meet nice and interesting people from all over the world.
Together with my friends Anne-Kathrin Fuchs, Tim Schmidt-Eisenlohr, and Christine Lechner, I hosted this spring the German coffee hour. The problem with German food is that it is very similar to American food because of the many German immigrants in the United States 100 years ago. We cooked German potato salad (Kartoffelsalat), hot dogs (called Wiener in German), and chocolate pudding (Schokoladenpudding). But anyway everybody enjoyed the food and was happy to be in our house. I am personally looking forward to another year of international experience in the Cosmopolitan Club and at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.
(Click on thumbnail image to view larger image.)
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Batamaka Some and Anand Ranganathan, emcees
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Lilia Peters greeting the guests
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Israeli cooks serving falafel
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Hungry students anxious to hit the buffet line
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Sumiko (second from right) surrounded by friends
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Ecuadorean contingent serving at the dinner
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Fabulous desserts |
Benjamin, Roger, and Mike |
Cooks on stage, receiving applause |
We wish to thank all the many cooks, helpers, and entertainers who gave of their time and talent to share their culture with so many others at the 21st Annual International Dinner and Entertainment Night.
A special thanks to Ron Peters for taking the photos of this event.