February 24, 2011
Diego R. Velasco ’14
In January a group of International Students from the International Club at Hampden-Sydney College traveled to James Madison University to attend the JMU International Student Career Day. On their way to Harrisonburg, some of the students took advantage of the travel time to catch up on sleep lost during a very busy school week. After three long hours on the road, the H-SC students were ready to meet the dozens of other International Students who sought to acquire a better understanding of the possibilities, upon graduation from college, for them in the U.S. job market.
At the Career Day the students were able to attend workshops held especially for international students such as “The Job Search Deal” led by career and academic advisers at JMU as well as “The Work Visa” led by an immigration attorney. These, and other presentations, were helpful in a number of ways. International students acquired vital information and tips on how to go about finding jobs and an understanding of the processes required if they intend to do temporary work in the United States. These workshops were not only beneficial to the students who are already in their senior year of college, but also to the students who are just beginning their college careers.
Students also had an opportunity to learn about what they should include in their resumes when they apply for summer jobs or internships. Those who brought a resume of their own were able to have them critiqued by professionals. One of our own Hampden-Sydney students, Mohit Shrestha, was considered to have one of the top three best resumes submitted by the international students. He was recognized with a prize.
On the way back to Hampden-Sydney, the students stopped at Taste of Thai, a restaurant which specializes in Thai food. The International Club bought the appetizers including papaya salad, crab cakes, and satay chicken. The students then ordered their own dinners. These included mountains of fried rice, delightful pieces of spicy squid with bamboo, varieties of curry, and other plates with undeniable good taste.
At the end of the day, attending the JMU International Student Career Day and dining at the Taste of Thai proved to be worth traveling six hours.
For more pictures from the event: Click here or watch it in Facebook Page Album: Click here
The venue of the 5th annual H-SC International Club Film and Food Festival changed but the tantalizing taste of the pervasive aroma of the food was no less than previous years. For the first time the festival took place in the Fellowship Hall of College Church. At the onset, it appeared that the room could not accommodate the tremendous turnout of staff and faculty members, students, and community folks. But the spacious hall was able to hold the nearly 100 who attended.
The International House opened its doors to an eager crowd on a delightful Tuesday afternoon in late September. The open house was the first event hosted by the International Club and the International House for the 2010/11 acadecmic year. The event combined an open house with a celebration of the Chinese Mid-Autumn Festival, also known as the Moon Festival, or Zhongqiu Festival, one of the most important and traditional Chinese holidays.
After about thirty minutes of informal conversations, the attendees enjoyed a light meal and drinks. Then the President of the International Club, Mohit Shrestha (rigth), from Nepal, asked everyone to be seated and graduating members were introduced, beginning with Charles Wesley. The evening continued emotionally as each graduate, exchange student, international scholar, or staff member recounted his or her experience at Hampden-Sydney College.
international cultures and traditions. Ben joined the club in his freshman year, and since then he has always been a stalwart supporter, organizing events, planning trips, and executing his duties. Ben shared with the gathering how being around the international students was meaningful to him and opened his eyes to the world. Ben used his encounters with the international students at H-SC to prepare himself for opportunities to travel and study in Ecuador and China.
supportive environment that the club members provided him. The outgoing club advisor, Dr. Michael Collins (right), Assistant Professor of Biology, praised the Club’s active involvement on campus and urged the Club to maintain and even strengthen its current activeness.
The club conveyed special appreciation to Ms. Virginia Johnston, Administrative Secretary in the Business Office. 
For most, it started out as just another one of those quiet Tuesday afternoons – lunch, afternoon classes, and maybe a trip down to the T.I. In the kitchen of the Commons, however, it was quite a different story. A dozen or so Hampden-Sydney international students were chopping away in preparation for the club’s biggest event of the semester – the International Food and Film Festival. A delicious aroma of spices filled the air as the students bustled around stirring, grilling, frying, seasoning, jerking, and mashing their respective cuisines.
included Irish Bangers and Mash by Lorcan Duffy, a special student fron Ireland, and Currywurst cooked by German students Arne Ulbrich ’11 and Hendrik Ziller ’11. The famous Caribbean Jerk Chicken was also prepared by our Jamaican students Osric Forrest ’13 and Basil Panton ’11.
The International Club thanks the more than 60 people who attended and took part in the festival; it was a great turnout. Many thanks also to the dining hall staff for providing the club with cooking materials and graciously sharing their work space while simultaneously serving dinner to the student body. We appreciate it! And, of course, hats off to the cooks and members of the International Club who invested so much time and energy in what turned out to be a very successful evening. Well done!
Together, the family will enjoy the moon on a cloudless night and eat moon cakes—an essential and special feature of this festival. The tradition of moon cakes started as the sacrificial offering to the moon and later became symbolic food. The first slice of the moon cake is always offered to the oldest one in the family to show respect to the elders. Although the general features of the Mid-Autumn Festival are the same, different regions have their own unique traditions. The video also showed the process of making moon cakes.
After a question-and-answer session, the performers taught the children present how to lion dance.
After Tian’s Kung Pao chicken, Professor Anthony Zhang (foreground), Chinese Fulbright Scholar and professor of Chinese, and Ke Shang ’13 from China served the highly-anticipated Chinese meat pies. These meat pies were fried dumplings stuffed with a mix of grounded beef and vegetables. The demand for the meat pies was very high among the guests. Even after the event was over, there were still many people waiting about in the hope that there might be more these delicious pies.
Tan Le ’10 from Vietnam, President of International Club, cooked spring rolls and Vietnamese fried rice. Moreover, two American students, Alex Burner ’10 and Will Thomas ’11 contributed to the variety of food by making Navajo fry breads. The Open House event finally closed at 8, an hour later than originally planned. Although the organizers, especially the chefs, were tired and hungry after the cookout, they were delighted with the success of the event.