IMBA and Commerce exchange students shined at NCCU 2019 World Festival

NCCU held the annual World Festival from May 14th till 17th, a fun activity which students have the opportunity to taste a variety of international foods and have a glimpse of other country’s culture. This exciting festival involves many language departments, student clubs or entrepreneurs that sell and promote food and drinks from their home countries. 

This year the World Festival had the participation of 27 food stands, representing over twenty countries or regions. With a diverse student body, NCCU had many international students joined in. IMBA was not an exception, with several entrepreneurs that worked hard during the three day event to offer their countries’ cuisine. 

 

Among them, we have Tonito Nguyen, currently a senior student that participated for the second time along with other students from Vietnam. He shared that their intention was to introduce Vietnamese food, and as an IMBA student it gives him the “experience to do business and earn profits”. But more than earning some extra money, Tonito explained how the World Festival promotes the cultural and language exchange among Vietnamese and Taiwanese students that are learning Vietnamese. As for food, they chose to offer a different menu every day - from their tasty handmade spring rolls to refreshing ice coffee. Delicious fresh food and friendly faces captured the public´s attention, as many wanted to take a picture with the Vietnamese students that wore their traditional costume.

 

Another IMBA student that succeeded in this festival was Nicole Engelbrechtov, a first year student from Czech Republic. Despite the hot weather, people stood in line for over twenty minutes just to try foods from the Czech booth. Czech students also prepared a different version of main courses every day, including chicken paprika, mashed potatoes with pork tenderloin and a vegetarian version of “Langos”- a top choice between customers.

What exactly is “Langos” though? Nicole explains, “It is a popular dish in Czech Republic during festivals -like this event- in the summer, surved with a glass of beer, or just an appetizer made at home”. The combination of cheese, ketchup and a secret ingredient sauce in handmade bread made “Langos” a must-try for many attendants of the festival. “The demand was higher than expected”, Nicole shared, resulting in a successful project to share and promote Czech Republic food.

 

IMBA entrepreneurs also participated in the drinks category. Peace Thitathammo and Thacha Tapaneeyakorn proudly sold their renowned Thai Milk Tea. This is the second time Peace participated in the World Festival with this refreshing and delicious sweet tea, perfect for summer. Students eagerly approached their booth, as they know Thai tea is easily sold out. They sold two types of milk tea - traditional orange and green tea. The orange milk tea uses black tea as a base and the green milk tea uses green tea, yet their flavors are quite similar as the rest of ingredients are the same. They also introduced a new product “Thai Nom Yen”, or as Peace explain: “A pinky iced milk that is very famous and also a traditional treat in Thailand.” 

 

Last but not least, at the World Festival, people were dazzled with all the international desserts, perfect as an afternoon snack. Sebastien Gonzalez, a first year student, decided to sell ice cream, which he decided was a “good product, affordable, with a bit of French culture, sweet and suited for the weather”. Their two top sellers were lemon and passion fruit flavor. The fruity taste of these refreshing ice-creams was a relief from the hot weather. They also promoted a new flavor “pepper and raspberry”, a combination that is more common in French salad dressings than in ice cream. Yet, this unique flavor served as another delicious option. 

 

In Sebastien’s opinion, this festival was a great opportunity to get people together, not only the students that came to try the food, but also the chance to interact between participants. People gather to ask questions about France, its culture and even got a chance to practice French. Also representing France, exchange students from the Rennes Business School participated in the World festival offering delicious wine and cheese tasting.