Bob Tomaszewski
Staff Writer
Wentz Lobby Area — Ten tables were spread out in the dining area on Wentz Concert Hall on Thursday, March 12 and were soon filled as students moved through the area for the Taste of Asia. The event was mainly manned by international students, and the tables were full of culturally diverse Asian cuisine.
“It has always been run mainly by international student involvement,” said Soch Mel, a 2011 alumnus. Mel commanded the Korean table with IL Kyung Noh, an international student from Korea. Each country had two to three dishes. One dish at the Korean table was “kimchi” a dish involving seasoned vegetables.
Yoko Imashi, who organized the event, estimated that there were “over 100 people who came,” and that “there were way more students last year.”
Sophomore Shiro “Alex” Yamazaki who manned the Philippines table commented that a lot of people visited the table. At its peak, the line reached the main lobby area.
“We anticipated a lot of people,” said Mel. “Last year the line was literally out the door.”
In addition, he and other international students pointed to problems with getting food ready last year as contributing to the line.
“There were a lot of people and it was so crowded that they ran out of food,” said junior Stephanie Varza.
Mel wishes for “more people to help out.” He noticed this year that they have papers to prepare for and homework.
“He [Noh] had class from 2 to 6, so I did most of the preparation, said Mel. “With big events like this, there is always room for improvement.”
One of Mel’s overall favorites was “karaage,” a fried chicken dish from the Japan table.
At the end of the night there was a raffle for a rice cooker which had a grand total of six entries. North Central College students evidently were more interested in the food than the opportunity to cook it themselves.
