On Feb. 28,  Community Church hosted the Nation to Nation event that takes place every Friday from 6 to 9 p.m.

 Nation to Nation is where international students gather to build a sense of community with each other through different group activities such as games, food and an opportunity to develop personal relationships. 

“I think it helps students connect because then on campus, when we’re all in our own groups, we see other people that we’ve seen at nation to nation, and  we then, like, eat together at lunch too, and so that it’s really cool to see those little groups come together,” said Josie Riddle,  sophomore art major. 

Members welcomed a group of Japanese students that are visiting for an exchange program. The event began by thanking God with a short prayer and then transitioned to some icebreaker questions. The students exchanged stories about their traditions, food and even some fun facts about their countries, which helped them feel less lonely in a new place. 

“Nation to Nation is only for international students. So people from other countries usually don’t have families here so they get together,” said Hui Liao, an exchange student. “They talk to each other, know each other, get close, have connections with each other.”

After enjoying delicious food and drinks, the students moved on to playing telephone which basically means messages are whispered from one person to another and then the original and final ans is compared but instead of whispering they communicated using gestures, challenging others to guess the meaning of the gesture. The game had everyone laughing and was a great way to bond. 

Activities such as these are a fun and easy way for students to learn about different cultures that exist all around them and make a new friend or gain a new outlook. 

“This will be the one of the best ways to like make connection with people because we can learn different cultures there, we can find many people from different nations and then we learn when we make conversation with them, it automatically becomes the conversation related to the culture and traditions,” said Puja Shrestha, freshman finance major.

For international students, Nation to Nation is more than just a weekly event, it’s a reminder that no matter where they come from, they all have something in common, and sometimes, all it takes is a fun game, good meal and shared experience to bring people together. 

Edited by Jeremy Ford and Jayme Thompson and Stuti Khadka