Univerzita Mateja Bela v Banskej Bystrici


International Village Summer Term 2017/2018

"Cooking is about people. Apparently, only food has the universal power of connecting people. No matter the culture, everywhere in the world people meet together to eat. "
Guy Fieri
And that's why we love organizing the International Village!
This semester (18 April 2018) we met at the Town Hall again to spend some nice and valuable time. During the semester we successfully met with foreign students and it is now time to learn more of such information about the culture and customs of individual countries that cannot be found in any brochure. We welcomed our guests with bread and salt.
Each of the participating countries has prepared a brief information block or entertaining program, and during the breaks, we enjoyed our typical national specialties. The event was opened by the host country - Slovakia – with the live performance, during which we listened to the tones of our national musical instrument - fujara and we learned about the history of this musical instrument. The program followed with Germany; Montenegro and Serbia were dancing their folk dances accompanied not only by music but also by their own singing.
Since the International Village is mainly about the food, during the brake we could try the first specialties prepared by foreign students. There was plenty of food, and it tasted great, so the shyness was quickly replaced it with unrestrained invasions to the tables with the intention of tasting as much as possible. We could taste genuine Italian pasta, strong Turkish coffee and vegetable couscous, breakfast prepared in a German way, Czech potato pancakes or borscht and cheese crumpets from Ukraine. Several countries offered their special cheeses. On the Slovak table there were also korbáčiky, parenica or bryndza spread, accompanied by sausages and potato salad.  Those who like sweets could taste Horalka, Mila or jam bread.
We needed to digest so the program continued with those who wanted to refute the myths about Turkey and, of course, a dance show from a Turkish party that we all could join. Italy was singing for a good mood, and then a playful introduction of  Bosnia and Herzegovina followed explaining the differences between two nations living in one republic. If you did not know, those of you who love mother nature, it is an ideal place to spend summer holidays. Bulgaria used our brains for puns, Spain has lifted us from the chairs for their lively "makarena" dance. Lovers of good music and summer festivals have expanded their horizons of possibilities with Ukrainians and the Czechs have taught us how we can all become Czechs. The thing is that you need to be fashionably dressed in every situation and have a quality beer available. The closing of the evening belonged to the Slovak Folklore ensemble Urpín.
All participants were able to vote for the best table throughout the program, thus giving one country an interesting reward. This year's winner is Turkey.
We lost the kilos that were gained on the afterparty. Together we had a wonderful evening and we are looking forward to the next years.
Your ESN UMB BB Team

International Village Summer Term 2017/2018International Village Summer Term 2017/2018

Matej Bel University in Banská Bystrica