Every year, the International Students Association hosts International Journey, a food fair that showcases food from around the world made by Clarkies. This year, the food fair was themed “A Taste of Home” and featured art submitted by Clark international students of what they thought home was. Pictures ranged from food, pets, friends, and family, to iconic buildings and landscapes that truly represented what home meant.
(Photo credit: Jocelyn Ng)
With 28 countries and regions that signed up this year, the highlight of the event was indeed the food itself, which represented almost every continent and any kind of food you could think of. With each person proudly sharing the food they had slaved over and representing their home countries, the mood was festive and one that reminded me of street food back home. Loud noises, delicious smells, and laughter. As is tradition, there was a voting box present allowing for people to vote for the best dish, which this year went to India, congratulations to them. Unlike previous years, however, this year’s International Journey was the longest yet. Traditionally, the hungry masses ensured that after 30 or so minutes there was no more food to be had. This year, however, through plenty of strategic planning and splitting the food into 3 waves, the event lasted a whopping 2 hours. Perhaps the non-food highlights of the event was the entertainment.
The event opened with a few pieces from Clark’s very own Jazz band, Reed it and the Weeps, who set the mood for a relaxing day of food tasting. This was followed by performances by Diego Barona, Twanya Nantiyakul, and Asir Arif. The most memorable of all the entertainment by far was the “GALA Part 12394646”. As the GALA playlist from GALA 2016 was played, those who had danced for their regions proudly showed of what they did and most spectacularly what they did not remember of their performances, entertaining the crowd that gathered for a good 30 minutes with fond memories of last semester’s event.
(Photo credit: Chukwuma Egbuzie)
As someone who lives for good food and music, this event took me back to home and the food culture there, and was definitely an event I would encourage everyone to try at least once in their Clark lives. And best of all, all this amazing food, music, and entertainment is all FREE!!
