Creating bonds through the tradition of food-sharing is something Debra Goens, immigration specialist program coordinator for the Center for International Programs, embraces. Whether it is a potluck to celebrate a holiday, one of the center's monthly International Coffee House events or a fund-raising dinner, Goens finds ways to bring people and food together. 

While a Coffee House may have anywhere from two dozen to 50 participants, fund-raising dinners often see much larger crowds.

"Events like the International Dinner draw in more than 200 people, and not just students," Goens said. "We have faculty, staff and people from the community who come to these events for the authentic meals our students serve."

Beyond its culinary opportunities, the center provides the campus and the larger community with other services. Goens notes that the center has a speakers bureau staffed by students who are willing to visit not only Ball State classes but also area public schools, civic organizations and other groups to speak with authority on their home countries and cultures.

Arriving on campus a week before most other students in the fall and participating in their own special orientation, international students form early friendships. As Chan Young Jung, Goens' graduate assistant and a master's student from Korea, points out, many international students also live in University Apartments, where they interact on a daily basis.

"During orientation, our office gets them involved with some American students as well," Jung said. "But many international students have formed their own communities where they live, where they sometimes share meals and spend time together outside of class."

Between 400 and 500 international students representing more than 65 countries call Ball State home at this time, said Goens.

Jung feels the size of Ball State's international community and the program that serves it is a good size.

"Personally, as a foreign student at Ball State, I think the size of the international community is just right," Jung said. "If the international community is too big, no one cares about it. If it is too small, no one notices. Here, it is just right to get to know American culture."

While the international students are getting to know American culture, Goens hopes to see more Americans interacting with the variety of cultures around them. One of her goals in offering the Coffee House events is to create opportunities for more Americans to interact with international students in informal settings.

"It isn't a matter of exposing the international students to Americans," she said. "Americans are everywhere. One of our goals is to get the Americans aware of the different cultures in their midst. We want to get more Americans pulled into these events."

There are many opportunities for involvement, from the one-time social event to the long-term investment of becoming a friendship family, Goens said.

Friendship families offer insight into American culture as well as emotional support and practical assistance to international students as they make the transition to life in the United States, Goens said. Trips to the grocery store or a chance to share a family dinner are common activities.

Goens said the experience offers students the chance to see how Americans really live.

"Friendship families give them a chance to participate in a typical American family," she said. "And they feel there is someone here who cares about them."

For more information about any of these programs, contact Goens at dgoens@bsu.edu or at 285-5422.