Sixty people attended the Caribbean dinner at the Technology, Policy and Management (TPM) faculty last Wednesday. With half the diners being foreign born, it was a smashing multi-cultural success.
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Farley % ”call me Babba” % has completed his task, but some of his helpers are still busy preparing large pans of rice. It’s quarter to seven, and in fifteen minutes, sixty people will start filling their plates with Antillean specialities. Babba, who is of Antillean descent, has been hard at work preparing the evening meal since 4 o’clock in the afternoon. During the rest of the week, Babba works at TPM as an electrician.
”We started with a theme lunch, but it’s grown into full dinners, once every two months,” explains Raymond van Eck, one of the founders of Ieco, the international dinner committee. ”It’s for everybody at TPM, but outsiders also attend.”
Van Eck’s committee works with Curius , the student association for TPM students. ”It’s catching on,” Van Eck says. ”Ieco evenings are a now a well-known event at TPM.” The international aspect is the food, though many foreign students have been involved from the start. ”Last year we organised a Dutch evening, especially for foreigners, with boerenkool (cabbage and mashed potatoes), Dutch sausages, jenever and traditional games, like sjoelen.”
”Don’t wait here, fill your plate and enjoy your dinner,” Van Eck announces at 7 o’clock, as salsa music blares from the loudspeakers. There’s great diversity among the diners. In addition to TPM students, a former director of Curius , a helpdesk employee who brought along an electrical engineering student, staff of the Education and Research bureau, and MSc and exchange-students are present. Lenie, manager of TPM’s canteen, is happy to lend the kitchen for such an event.
Superbowl
According to Van Eck, this mix of students and staff is typical of TPM: ”It’s a young faculty, not yet ten years old. Curius’ policy is to positively encourage sociability.” Between the chicken, rice, salad and beer % ‘Heineken in the States tastes different’ % Berend Jan Kingma, a Dutch TPM student, is trying to make a deal with an American, Heather Young. Kingma wants to watch the Superbowl at the American Embassy but doesn’t think he can get in without Moore’s help. ”We’ll tell them we’re almost married and that watching the Superbowl is part of my integration process.”
Moore, an architecture student, isn’t impressed with Kingma. ”I live in a student house and have lots of opportunities to meet Dutch students,” says Moore, who came to the Antillean evening with a TPM housemate. ”Not all my friends are in such a position. The Dutch are friendly, but I have the feeling that in the back of their minds they know I’ll be gone in a year.”
Chemistry student Miriam Cortes, from Barcelona, also appreciates her social contacts with the Dutch: ”It’s nice to learn some Dutch words, but mainly, I want to improve my English. My colleagues at TNO speak English with me.” After dinner, Cortes will go to Luniz, where foreign students gather on Wednesday evenings. This was Cortes’ first Ieco evening but she’d like to come again. The regulars, too, were satisfied: ”Thanks Babba, it was the tastiest Ieco dinner ever!”
Translation: Alice Beurze
Sixty people attended the Caribbean dinner at the Technology, Policy and Management (TPM) faculty last Wednesday. With half the diners being foreign born, it was a smashing multi-cultural success.
Farley % ”call me Babba” % has completed his task, but some of his helpers are still busy preparing large pans of rice. It’s quarter to seven, and in fifteen minutes, sixty people will start filling their plates with Antillean specialities. Babba, who is of Antillean descent, has been hard at work preparing the evening meal since 4 o’clock in the afternoon. During the rest of the week, Babba works at TPM as an electrician.
”We started with a theme lunch, but it’s grown into full dinners, once every two months,” explains Raymond van Eck, one of the founders of Ieco, the international dinner committee. ”It’s for everybody at TPM, but outsiders also attend.”
Van Eck’s committee works with Curius , the student association for TPM students. ”It’s catching on,” Van Eck says. ”Ieco evenings are a now a well-known event at TPM.” The international aspect is the food, though many foreign students have been involved from the start. ”Last year we organised a Dutch evening, especially for foreigners, with boerenkool (cabbage and mashed potatoes), Dutch sausages, jenever and traditional games, like sjoelen.”
”Don’t wait here, fill your plate and enjoy your dinner,” Van Eck announces at 7 o’clock, as salsa music blares from the loudspeakers. There’s great diversity among the diners. In addition to TPM students, a former director of Curius , a helpdesk employee who brought along an electrical engineering student, staff of the Education and Research bureau, and MSc and exchange-students are present. Lenie, manager of TPM’s canteen, is happy to lend the kitchen for such an event.
Superbowl
According to Van Eck, this mix of students and staff is typical of TPM: ”It’s a young faculty, not yet ten years old. Curius’ policy is to positively encourage sociability.” Between the chicken, rice, salad and beer % ‘Heineken in the States tastes different’ % Berend Jan Kingma, a Dutch TPM student, is trying to make a deal with an American, Heather Young. Kingma wants to watch the Superbowl at the American Embassy but doesn’t think he can get in without Moore’s help. ”We’ll tell them we’re almost married and that watching the Superbowl is part of my integration process.”
Moore, an architecture student, isn’t impressed with Kingma. ”I live in a student house and have lots of opportunities to meet Dutch students,” says Moore, who came to the Antillean evening with a TPM housemate. ”Not all my friends are in such a position. The Dutch are friendly, but I have the feeling that in the back of their minds they know I’ll be gone in a year.”
Chemistry student Miriam Cortes, from Barcelona, also appreciates her social contacts with the Dutch: ”It’s nice to learn some Dutch words, but mainly, I want to improve my English. My colleagues at TNO speak English with me.” After dinner, Cortes will go to Luniz, where foreign students gather on Wednesday evenings. This was Cortes’ first Ieco evening but she’d like to come again. The regulars, too, were satisfied: ”Thanks Babba, it was the tastiest Ieco dinner ever!”
Translation: Alice Beurze
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