Indians Ankit Mittal and Prabodh Ranjan warmed themselves at the heaters scattered through the MetaForum market hall. The reason they’re cold may involve their kurtas, traditional clothing made from fairly thin fabric. They’re representing their country at the Indian stand along with several fellow Indians – guests can try all kinds of traditional dishes. Keeping in mind the taste buds of non-Indians, they went easy on the chilies.

Mexican Miguel Izquerdo and the Dutch Anne Quist are visiting the event. It’s funny the Dutch Anne should be the one who’s cold. Miguel comments on the event: “It’s great to get to know each other better, and see both differences and similarities in other cultures.”

Venezuela, Romania, Turkey, the Netherlands, Mexico, South Korea, Kenya, Japan, Italy, India, Indonesia, germany, Greece, France, China and Brazil were represented yesterday. Cosmos, the recently founded international association at TU/e, was represented at the stand located in the Common Room, and the TU/e partner network was present as well. Visitors were free to taste all kinds of food especially. For example, the Dutch stand offered herring, ‘pepernoten’ (gingerbread nuts) and black liquorice; Germany had beer and salads; Brazil presented Guarana (a soda), and South Korea sampled rice wine. Visitors were also taught how to make pasta – from the Italian community, of course – and they were invited to participate in a capoeira dance.

Soon the performances start and music sweeps over MetaForum, ranging from Mexican ballads to Indonesian angklung music. The event has a slow start, but soon the market hall is bustling with life.