Before you even had the chance to see the tables surrounding the Plano Campus atrium, you could smell the food. A fragrant mix of sweet and savory permeated the hallways as students set up displays to share a taste of their cultures.
Collin College’s Multicultural Festival, another annual event sidelined last year by COVID-19, came back strong, Nov. 9. Table displays filled with food, games, and culturally significant items offered students a glimpse into the home cultures of the college’s English as a Second Language (ESL) and international students.
About a dozen tables dotted the atrium floor. A table dedicated to South Korea featured baked and fried goods along with a station to create ddakji, a folded paper children’s game popularized recently by the Netflix series Squid Game. Across the way, a group of students from Nigeria and Zimbabwe shared jollof rice and a game of Ayo, which is one variation of the game mancala. Students from Central America discussed the array of popular snacks and artwork decorating their table in another corner of the atrium. Later in the day, the Chinese Ensemble from the University of North Texas School of Music performed.
Opening the event, Associate Dean Mark Fischer encouraged the students gathered in the atrium to go past the surface level of just looking at the displays and tasting the food and get to know the people at each table.
“I hope that through getting to know these students, your view of the world will also be enriched,” he said.
Charlene Houston, ESL professor and one of the event organizers, echoed that sentiment. She said that the event gives ESL students the chance to get to know and begin friendships with other international students and share their culture with people outside of their regular group.
That kind of cross-cultural exchange is at the heart of the festival, but it also has the benefit of providing ESL students with more facetime with native English speakers while speaking about a subject they are comfortable with.
“We are teaching them a language and they have to use it with native speakers, so it is really interesting that way,” Houston said.
Junkyoung Lee, who was wearing traditional South Korean clothing, said that she likes the opportunity to learn about other cultures in such an open environment.
“America is a country with many different cultures, and it is interesting to look at the different cultures,” Lee said. “This is a great chance to learn. It is hard to do it (otherwise).”
Kidist Workya, an ESL student from Ethiopia who brought homemade flatbread, said she was enjoying the festivities and planned to explore later during the three-hour event.
“You see, my food is almost gone,” she said.