The International Student Association (ISA) at Bellevue College is engaging students virtually this quarter by creating a series of interesting “lunches” surrounding the topics of different world cultures. Our Cultural Awareness course
participated in two of these lunches, and students committed to stepping outside their comfort zone to interact virtually with new people in a group setting.
After signing up, our students and faculty received two packages in the mail from Bellevue College full of international treats. We didn’t know exactly what to do with our received materials and felt a little nervous at first, but we were accepted warmly by the International group with open arms and made some new connections and friends.
Our first lunch on October 8 was The History of Nachos and Salsa, and we celebrated Latinx/Hispanic Heritage Month. Students enjoyed playing a game in a foreign language, learning a new way to make salsa, and taking a quiz to compete for a prize online.
Our second lunch on October 15, Turkish Coffee and Chocolate, was a magical exploration of coffee, fortune telling, and sweets. Students learned the Turkish consider sharing a cup of coffee like gaining a lifelong friend and many other culture lessons surrounding Turkish coffee.
We had a blast! Our Cultural Awareness class was so happy to engage with others on campus and learn from them. There were lots of laughs, learning, and new experiences.
Check out what some of our students had to say:
“I had the chocolates that came in my package and they tasted so good. The steps on how to make the Turkish coffee was the most interesting part about the presentation I enjoyed. I really enjoyed this community activity.” ~Brittney
“I think that the PowerPoint presentation was amazing because it revealed a lot of details that I did not know about what Turkish Coffee can do. I like how it mentioned that Turkish coffee is good for both physical and mental health, I did not know that this type of coffee was capable of doing good things for one’s health. I like the demonstration of how to make a cup of the coffee, it was very interesting, because it doesn’t look like it’s made like how our coffee gets made. Learning about how this coffee is different from America, makes me want to visit Turkey.” ~Bennett
“It was definitely an interesting presentation. What was most interesting was the whole coffee-grounds reading part, and it made the whole event seem a little less uptight and formal. It was nice to see the presenter actually make the coffee,
instead of seeing them with a pre-made cup. It certainly added a more homey aspect to it and helped bring it from a really boring informative presentation to one that was more interactive, and actually interesting to the participants, capturing their attention.” ~Zach
“I thought the presentation was very interesting and educational because I never knew or saw Turkish coffee being made before. I also didn’t know about how chocolate was created in Turkey. I found it interesting that they put more steps into making coffee than we do. I also thought it was cool that the instructor doing the presentation told what coffee was in
Turkish. The last thing that I thought was cool was that they actually had a presentation that involved where my family is from.” ~Erin
“The history of nachos was invented by a person called Ignacio Anaya. In the 1970 nachos were popular in America.
Nachos were started back in 1943. 1954 nachos was found in the book called St. Anne Cookbook. I love this activity; the reason why is because I love nachos and always wanted to know the history of nachos.” ~Vinh
“When I watched the video on how to make Pico de Gallo, it amazed me that people can make this dipping sauce in a short amount of time with a few ingredients. I also liked the La Loteria Game where it was breath-taking, suspenseful, and unexpected because anyone could win with the luck of the draw and the right picture board. Finally, I gained valuable
information about who was responsible for making Nachos and Salsa in the first place.” ~Roman
“The La Loteria game was a bit challenging but fun where I have to pick a La Loteria Game poster and look at the pictures with the number on it. I had a really good time during this activity. Before that, I did the quiz on the history of nachos which I got a 4 out of 5 answer and came in third place.” ~Drew
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Last Updated November 10, 2020