In the final full week before Thanksgiving Break, the Washburn University International Program put on International Education Week, which included a scavenger hunt, a photo essay contest and cultural meals. The cultural meals, featuring food from a different country each day, were prepared by Washburn international students, like Japanese student and junior pre-nursing major, Aichata Nishimura.

Nishimura was informed that Thursday, Nov. 21 she would be one of the students preparing and serving Japanese food for students. She was excited by the opportunity because she knows many WU students that enjoy Japanese food. She was also excited for the chance to use the cooking knowledge taught to her by her mother.

Japan was one of the four countries represented culinarily in Lincoln Dining throughout International Education Week. Each day, students from the Bahamas, Nepal, Nigeria and finally Japan cooked and served cultural dishes.

Each group of international students got to pick which meals they felt best represented their culture. They also had to bear in mind that they would be preparing food for more than 100 people. Nishimura said this was a significant challenge.

“I like to cook but I don’t [normally] cook for that many [people],” Nishimura said.

Because of this, the Japanese students decided to pick meals that would be easier for them to make in bulk while still properly representing Japanese food. Nishimura described that she picked savory foods because she knows this is a favorite characteristic of American palates.

Nishimura said that she may have chosen different foods had she been cooking for fewer people, but she still feels their selections were a good representation of Japanese cuisine.

On Thursday, Nishimura worked alongside another Japanese student, senior finance and international business major, Hinata Isobe, to serve food in Lincoln Dining.

Isobe had not cooked for herself until she came to the United States, but it is something she has grown into in the Washburn dormitories. However, she still reached out to her mom about cooking and asked her to send recipes that she could prepare.

After all of the food had been served, Isobe said watching her peers enjoy Japanese food made her “so happy,” and it was an added bonus that it was her own cooking. She specifically remembered one student who kept coming back for more and more Karaage chicken which made her pleased.

Multiple students in Lincoln Dining also mentioned appreciating having such high-quality food in Lincoln Dining all week long and being able to enjoy such diverse and unique flavors.

Edited by Alijah McCracken and Stuti Khadka