More new and diverse faces are appearing every week at international coffee hour, and the International Student Association is changing the theme of the event by encouraging more students to have a cup of coffee and talk with people from all over the world.
“We chose coffee because it’s America — people drink it all the time,” ISA co-director Shruti Shah said.
Coffee hour, which is held from 4 to 6 p.m. every Friday, has come a long way since it started in the mid-1980s. The event began small with only 10 or 15 people. But in recent years, attendance has been reaching up to 100 people, Shah said.
Now, instead of just providing coffee and snacks, ISA has been asking student groups to sponsor coffee hour and present a part of their culture, Shah said.
“Our theme is unity and diversity,” she said. “We’re trying to reach out to student organizations that maybe weren’t involved in previous years.”
This includes student groups that aren’t characterized by a specific ethnicity, she said.
ASUO sponsored a coffee hour for the first time after Sept. 11. The group used this time as a platform to educate people about the tragedy.
Recent sponsor Students of the Indian Subcontinent wore “salwaar kameez”– traditional, colorful outfits that can be dressed up or down depending on the details of the embroidery, Shah said.
SIS members encouraged everyone to participate in a traditional Hindu dance called Dandya.
The dance is performed during the nine-day Navaratri festival, but today younger people tend to perform the dance for fun, Shah said. Each person is given two wooden sticks, and the dancers form two lines. People rotate around the line, hitting their sticks against the sticks of those in the other line. Dancers rotate while traditional music plays in the background.
Next term, the Hawaii Club will sponsor coffee hour, and Shah hopes more student groups will sponsor coffee hour during winter term.
Tom Mills, director of the Office of International Education and Exchange, said he informs international students about coffee hour at the beginning of the year so they know where they can go to meet other students from their country.
“Coffee hour gives a focus to a time each week when students can meet students from their own countries and from other countries,” he said. “In terms of adjusting to a new life, it can be a real help to meet other new students and to find out about the international programs available.”
Saiyora Ismailova moved from Uzbekistan during fall term. Right away she became involved in ISA and began attending the coffee hour for fun and to socialize.
“You don’t have to travel to meet people from different countries,” she said.