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At the end of April, the International Dinner, the deservedly most popular cultural event among international students, was organised again at Szent István Campus of Hungarian University of Agriculture and Life Sciences, thus Amenza Service Restaurant was once again full of guests and participants.

During the evening, plenty of nations presented a piece of their culture, showing the colourful cavalcade of their national costumes and national cuisine.
Besides the Hungarian table, seventeen nations, Bangladesh, Brazil, Ecuador, the United States, France, India, Iran, Kazakhstan, Kenya, Laos, Mexico, Mongolia, Russia, Syria, Türkiye, Ukraine, Uzbekistan, prepared and served their national dishes on richly decorated tables waiting for the guests.

​​​​​​Moreover, talented Bangladeshi, Kenyan, Uzbek and Hungarian students entertained the guests by performing their dances or songs. The nimble-footed dancers of MATE Forduló Folk Dance Ensemble provided the opening dance performance, giving the students who came from numerous countries around the world a taste of Hungarian folk culture. The Hungarian dance house that ended the evening proved to be the most popular performance. Students from nearly 55 nations danced with joy to the tunes of Kalotaszeg and Mezőség, led by the folk dancers of MATE.

 

Capriovus Kft., a partner of the Institute of Food Science and Technology, MATE Buda Campus, enriched the food selection with their milk-, sugar- and gluten-free products of the Hungarian hosts’ table who did not participate in the food competition. By now it has become a tradition that among our prominent guests we could welcome representatives of the Lao Embassy and the Hungarian-Lao Friendship Association, representatives of the Tunisian Embassy and National Tourist Office, Saraswati Foundation supporting Indian culture, the colleagues responsible for FAO affairs from the Hungarian Ministry of Agriculture, representatives of Szamovár Foundation from Gödöllő, who are happy to offer cultural and Russian/Ukrainian language support to our Slavic-speaking students, and last but not least the enthusiastic members of Gödöllő Kolping Family with whom we have been successfully organising an intercultural language club called MATE Kolping Colours - Closer for a year, and who offer support to Christian international students.

 

Two MATE projects were also presented at the International Dinner: E³UDRES² European University Alliance, which offers jointly organized courses with MATE's eight EU partners, and AGRIGEP colleagues, who fight for equal opportunities for women in agricultural enterprises. Guests could test their knowledge about the projects by taking part in an interactive quiz.

 
​​​​​​The nine-member professional jury made their decisions on the basis of serious criteria: they took into account the appearance, colour, texture, smell, taste, intensity, character and quality of the food and drinks. At the end of the evening, the jury announced the results and awarded valuable prizes from OTP Bank, Fincsi Cake - Gödöllő, from chimney cake and gingerbread master Gabriella Kolozs, SzilArt Studio and MATE Centre for International Education. In Best Appetizer category, representatives of Syria won. Best Main Dish was cooked by India, Best Soup was served by Laos, and Best Beverage was prepared by Kenya. Serbia excelled in Best Dessert category. The Audience Favourite award went to the enthusiastic team members from Türkiye.

 

By now, it has become an increasingly rich tradition in MATE Centre for International Education that achieving the integration of Hungarian and international students should be reached by awarding winners and active participants "Hungarian experiences". In the previous years, for this reason, visiting a dance performance at the Hungarian Heritage House and watching The Nutcracker at the Hungarian State Opera House were organised. This spring, the prize winners and active contributors of the International Dinner had the opportunity to participate in a porcelain painting workshop in the imposing surroundings of the Royal Waiting Hall, Gödöllő under the guidance of Szilárd Szentgáli-Varga, a master of porcelain painting who also gained years of professional experience in Herend. Excellent pieces of art were created, even though everyone tried using Herend paints for the first time. International students had the opportunity to visit a short exhibition in the Royal Waiting Hall, which raised many questions for them. In response, their international coordinators shared interesting facts about local history. Hungarian cultural experiences will continue this month in the framework of afternoon workshops of gingerbread decoration and chimney cake baking.

   
The video created with the support of MATE Media Centre can be watched soon.