by Lauren Honigford

The fifth annual international food celebration, hosted by Cornerstone’s Multicultural Organization, featured the cuisine of five countries and a kung-foo demonstration.

MCO’s event, named, “Taste of the World,” took place in CU’s Corum Student Union on April 16. Five different tables were set up to represent the countries, which included Greece, Mexico, Africa, China and India.

Visitors received a “passport” for the event, which they took to each table. When they visited a table, their passports received a stamp, thus allowing them to keep track of what countries they had “traveled” to. The exception was China’s table, where volunteers printed calligraphy on visitors’ passports.

Aside from a main dish, each country’s table featured a number of artifacts that allowed visitors a better taste of the culture and flair of the area. India’s table even featured a student in traditional Indian dress. Specified volunteers worked at each table, and some tables featured more than one dish to try.

“It’s a big social time,” MCO president Chevoy Parson said. “The Corum is always packed with students every time we do this event.”

A table with cookies was also available for visitors craving a sweet fix.

Another table featured donation boxes for the summer GO teams. These were on display with the intention of encouraging donations from visiting students. This summer, CU will be sending students to India, China, the Philippines, Kosovo and Italy.

The celebration also featured a live demonstration from the Michigan Martial Arts company, in which a group of young children displayed some of their “moves” for the crowd of onlookers.

Younger audiences especially connected with the demonstration.

“My son couldn’t stop watching the kids while the demonstration was going on. I haven’t seen him sit still that long in quite some time,” CU student Carrie Chiodo said.

After the demonstration, the GO teams were provided with a chance to share about their summer experiences and encourage people to donate to their causes.

MCO event coordinator Callie Soeltner worked closely with MCO advisor Kay Landrum to plan the event. The celebration is one of MCO’s bigger events and requires extensive planning and preparation to run smoothly.

“Although it’s free to the students, this is one of our more expensive events,” Parson said. “We get all our food from local restaurants, and although they give it to us at a discount, it is still extremely expensive.”

Restaurants that provided for the event included Seoul Garden, Bombay Cuisine, Pita House, and Little Africa.

Many found the event to be both entertaining and refreshing.

“I love this event because I love food and it’s cool to be able to taste a little of everything,” senior Melissa Kersjes said. “The Greek table is my favorite. I don’t think I could ever get tired of humus.”

New students found the event to be a stimulating experience as well.

“I loved it. I think that it’s really cool that we get to try different food,” freshman Teresa Malmquist said. “The kung-foo was really sweet too.”

Both Parson and Soeltner were impressed by the turnout and felt everything ran smoothly. They were equally impressed by the kung-foo demonstration.

“The goal of this event is to have fun and try food from other countries,” Soeltner said. “Hopefully, this event will pique people’s interest in learning more about other countries and cultures.”