A crowded Bowld Commons 121 was filled with laughter and the smell of interesting new foods as a large group of students gathered March 1 to learn about Norwegian culture.
The International Students Union invited the Union community to play games and experience new cuisine and culture at an event the members titled “Experience Norway.”
“We wanted to do a mash-up between how Norwegians, in general, celebrate things and spend time together,” said Elisabeth Kristensen, a sophomore broadcast journalism major, ISU member and native Norwegian.
Those who attended played interactive games, watched a slideshow, sampled different types of Norwegian cuisine and asked questions of the members of the ISU.
Kendra Loh, senior advertising and psychology double-major and ISU president, said the campus organization began meeting last spring, and every year around this time its members want to host an event.
Last year, ISU hosted the Lunar New Year event, and this year the members chose to explore a new culture.
“Everyone in the Union community can experience it; we can have fun together,” Loh said. “We try to do it in a fun way as well as learn and expose the community to different cultures.”
Loh created a Facebook group and invited 254 people to the event.
Yumi Miyazaki, a junior political science major and ISU member, said even though last year’s event was bigger, this year’s event still had a great turn-out.
One game in particular held everyone’s attention: four attendees were seated in the front of the room, then blindfolded and then given Norwegian foods to try. The goal was to guess correctly what they were eating or at least describe it as best they could.
“Having the chance to come to this event gave me the really good opportunity to eat a different culture’s food, and I don’t think I would ever have the chance to eat foods from around the world all in one place anywhere else,” said Bangali Sillah, a junior business management major and one of the contest winners.
Senior political science major Stefan Rabenhorst said it was a great experience.
“It allows us to learn about not only other peoples’ cultures, but our friends’ cultures, and that’s really what’s important,” Rabenhorst said, adding, “It’s one thing just to come and learn about these people through history books or text books, but the ability to commune together — one-on-one — that’s what makes this the International Students Union. That’s what makes this Union University.”
