The University of Minnesota Crookston is preparing for its March International Dinner Series. The dates are Monday, March 3, 17, 24, and 31. They will all take place starting at 6:00 p.m. in Bede Ballroom. Rae French works in student affairs at the University and has worked on the International Dinner series for many years. We were able to chat with her about what to expect from this year’s program.
“We have three kinds of the more traditional dinners where you have dinner and a performance, and you have a little speaker series with all of this,” says French. “It’s kind of really special, it’s kind of more of an intimate experience, it’s not the big showcase, you get to know our students, and they really want to get to know the public.”
French says the first three dinners will be based on specific cultural backgrounds. “For the third, we will be having Indian Food, it will be Tikka Masala, it will be paneer Tikka Masala, so it will be quite delicious,” says French. “She’s going to give a little presentation about India, nothing too long but enough so we can get to know her a little bit.” The choir will sing for entertainment during the first dinner series, and Kavya Singh will present.
Spring break falls in March, so there is no dinner series on Monday, March 10; the next will be Monday, March 17. “We have our group from Vietnam that will be performing. They are doing a Vietnamese dance,” says French. We will have Vietnamese food and a little presentation from the senior. Her name is Emma, and she will talk a little about the areas of Vietnam.”
The third dinner in the series will be on Monday, March 24, and will feature Bangladesh. “These two are cousins; they are a little silly,” says French. They both play guitar and like to sing, so we will hear them playing the guitar and singing and probably just being their silly selves.” Ernesto Rafin and Saimon Shan are the cousins French talked about who will be sharing their musical talents on the 24th.
The final dinner is the Multicultural International Dinner. “The final dinner is on the 31st. That’s our Multicultural International dinner, and we will be featuring a singer from the Twin Cities. We are hiring her; first time we are doing something like that,” says French. “She is a jazz singer, so if you really like jazz, come out for that night. It will be a wonderful night of jazz.” French says there will be other musical performances that evening as well. “We have a student playing the harp. We have a student playing the ukulele; it’s actually Halle Winjum playing the ukulele, so it’s one of our own people from Crookston,” says French. “She’ll play the ukulele, and I’m guessing she will sing along with that.” There will also be guitar players and dancers, says French. The food for this dinner will feature items from Kenya, Ecuador, and Ukraine.
The International Dinner series is really a great way to connect with family or attend as a group. The ticket prices are very reasonable for dinner and entertainment, French says. “The ticket prices for each of these are $30 a person, but what do you get for $30,” says French. “An appetizer, a main dish, and a dessert, plus a beverage, so I think it’s a really good deal, and you are getting entertainment.”
Tickets for the International Dinner Series are $30 per adult and $25 per student that are 18 and under per meal. There is an option to buy tickets for all four dinners. “If you want to make it a package deal, you can get all four of them, for the adults, for $110,” says French. “$110 for four full meals with entertainment, not too bad.” The students get to go up to Brown Dining on the Sunday before each dinner and help prepare the food, which makes the meal even more special. This is an excellent opportunity to support the University of Minnesota Crookston and learn about international students and their culture while eating great food and enjoying
