Food and activities from around the globe come together in the International Center every week to give students the chance to travel the world without leaving campus.

Every Friday for one hour, WSU’s International Center hosts Coffee Hour, a meeting that highlights a country, holiday or some other international aspect such as different foods or traditions.

“The point of Coffee Hour is to provide cultural seminars or fun presentations and activities so international students and American students interact,” said Kate Hellmann, associate director of the Office of International Programs.

The Coffee Hour program started around the time the International Center opened when students asked for regular programming. Since then, it has been known as the first and most developed of the variety of International Center programs.

“Everybody knows that at Friday at three, come down for snacks, a good time, and meet people,” Hellmann said.

Themes have ranged from football and homecoming to rolling sushi and chocolate from around the world. Student participants come from a range of areas and cultures, whether it’s Rio de Janeiro or Bellevue.

One of the past events was an Indonesian Coffee Hour where people participated in a tradition that Hellmann described as an integral part of Indonesian culture and family celebrations: hanging rice crackers off a string and seeing who can eat theirs the fastest with their hands behind their back.

Anastasia Miyoko Mackert, co-vice president for the International Students’ Council, described the weekly event as an opportunity for international students to share their culture in an authentic way, not just to domestic students, but to international students at WSU as well.

“Coffee Hours has brought me to realize what diversity is exactly,” Mackert said. “Although we may have large groups (of people), it’s the little details in each individual that really makes the Coffee Hours shine.”

The mission of the International Students’ Council is to provide opportunities to international and domestic students by bringing them and their values together. One way this is done is through events such as leadership retreats and an International Up All Night planned for September.

Mackert said they also help make international students feel at home, and the Coffee Hours do just this. Planned by the interns in the International Center, they reach out to organizations on campus representing certain cultures, depending on the plans for the theme that week.

“I got dragged down here by friends. It was the only place I could find them,” said intern and junior Keani Kreienbaum. “The International Center became my home because my friends were here, and I made new friends.”

Some of Kreienbaum’s friends are from places like Iran, Kuwait and Colombia. Through the Coffee Hour, she said she’s learned things like how to play mahjong and make sushi. The Raptor Club has also made an appearance, showing off some of the birds it houses on campus.

Coffee Hour offers new things for students to learn, but Hellmann, Kreienbaum and Mackert said one of their favorite parts is the food. Keeping with the theme, the food could be anything from curry to Valentine’s Day cookies.

“If it’s something that can be baked, we buy the ingredients and bake it,” Hellmann said. “Sharing those personal stories over food is a great way to get to know people.”

A Back to School Coffee Hour will be held from 3-4 p.m. Friday in the International Center office, CUB L46.