Have you ever tried Native American pudding, Moroccan grilled chicken skewers or South American grilled salmon stew? Tasting foods from other countries is just one of many activities planned for International Education Week Nov. 13-17 at ETSU.
Maria Costa, director of international programs and services at ETSU, said the week is a joint project between the U.S. Department of Education and the U.S. Department of State to recognize global exchange of students and faculty.
While this is the third year ETSU has participated, nationally the program is in its seventh year.
Costa said the main purpose of International Edu-cation Week, or IEW is “to bring awareness to exchanges at the academic level.” According to the Web site www.iew.state.gov, IEW was celebrated in 77 countries and all 50 states in 2005. The Web site also noted that more than 565,000 international students studied abroad in the U.S. in 2004-05. Currently on ETSU’s campus, there are 350 international students.
Betsy Caldwell, a senior psychology major, traveled to Finland for five months during the spring 2006 semester through the exchange program at ETSU. Although she initially worried she would get behind on graduating if she studied abroad, she said, “It was an amazing experience, one that I’d recommend to anybody.”
Wednesday, Nov. 15 is campuswide international student recognition day. International students are encouraged to wear their traditional dress along with buttons displaying the name of their country.
Other activities planned during the week include lectures, an international film festival and quizzes to test your global IQ. Lectures will be held Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday at 7 p.m. in Brown Hall Auditorium.
International films such as “Hero” and “The Spanish Apartment” will be shown Monday-Thursday at 11:30 a.m. in Room 109 of Yoakley Hall.
The 15-minute quizzes, given in Yoakley Hall, are open to all students and will be on matching countries to their capitals and other cultural information. Winners of the quizzes will be announced Friday. Although there will be prizes for the winners, Linda Wyatt, project manager of the honors college, said they hadn’t been decided yet.
International students will have the opportunity to win up to $250 in an essay contest in which they write about their experiences in the U.S.
Also during the week, an international photo gallery will be displayed on the ETSU home page. Students, faculty and staff can submit personal photos taken in other countries during travel, study, or military service by Nov. 3. “We’ve already got quite a few photos . It should be a very nice gallery,” Wyatt said.
She also said this is the first time ETSU has had a week long of events, and Costa said there are more activities planned this year than ever.
“I’m just real excited about it,” Wyatt said. “We’re hoping to draw everyone closer together.

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