Celebrating international culture at the SCIS food fair

The 2019 International Food Fair is a community favorite that features traditional dishes from around the world, showcasing the uniqueness of Shanghai Community International School’s international culture.

IFF is SCIS Hongqiao Parents and Friends Association’s biggest fundraising event of the year. The annual fair is a celebration of world cuisine, culture and community. Country booths are decorated to reflect the flavors of our participating countries, and student performers share ethnic songs and dance routines. It is an opportunity to share the things that make us each unique — and those that bring us together as one.

In all, 18 countries and regional booths were represented at this year’s IFF, and more than 2,800 people were in attendance.

Food options were far and wide as we were able to enjoy delicacies from around the globe. A few dishes of note included anzac biscuits from New Zealand, kung pao chicken from China and munakasrulla from Finland.

In addition to the food, country representative of India and the Netherlands went above and beyond by including special activities next to their booths.

A brand-new addition this year saw the cafeteria turned into a Games Zone with plenty of fun games. Of these games, “Do-It-Yourself Slime-making” was one of the most popular with kids lining up for up to 30 minutes to have a turn!

At the day’s end, more than 182,000 yuan (US$25,962) was raised, which will go toward enrichment and extracurricular activities for all our students from nursery to Grade 12.

Country ambassadors

None of this would have been made possible without the effort and dedication of our country ambassadors and parent volunteers. The passion and enthusiasm of these individuals truly made a difference in the success of IFF.

“I love the diversity and creativity about how PAFA planned this IFF and I was super amazed at some countries’ decorations, like Germany and Southeast Asia. Most importantly, the wonderful friendship established among all country ambassadors during IFF was my favorite thing out of everything,” said Tina Zhang, country ambassador of Australia/New Zealand.

“IFF was fantastic, there is no better way to learn about China’s diverse culture and characteristics than savoring Chinese local dishes. By promoting Chinese foods, I hope more people come to appreciate the local culture,” said Kaylin He, country ambassador of China.

IFF was a truly successful event that brought together a great exchange of culture through food, music, entertainment for the whole community. Most importantly, it was a celebration of what makes SCIS such a unique place of learning — our international and diverse community.

(Mikael Masson Perez is marketing officer of SCIS.)