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international students

When I saw pumpkins, I knew Halloween was coming.

This year, I’ve done my first pumpkin craving with my friends at Fontbonne.

Last Thursday, Fontbonne offered an interesting activity–carving pumpkins–to students. Actually, I’ve never thought about carving pumpkin by myself until my friend, Carlos, invited me to do it. When I saw the huge pumpkin, I was going to give up carving the pumpkin because it was too heavy for me. My friend Carlos, however, just gave me a big hand in the last few minutes. He said: “Penny, I can help you take off the top of your pumpkin, then you just need to scoop out the seeds and focus on crafting your own pumpkin.” Sure, I said. So, I did my first pumpkin carving at Fontbonne. Wow, it was a very unique experience.

Actually, carving a pumpkin looks so simple but it’s really hard, because there is too much work to carve a pumpkin: take off the top, and take out all the seeds inside. Moreover, the skin of the pumpkin is hard, so you need to be very careful when you carve it. I know one of my friends cut her finger when she carved her pumpkins.

Here are some tips for carving pumpkins that I’ve learned in the United States:

  1. You can use the pumpkin carving tool sets they sell in stores.
  2. Use a sharp knife to cut off the top of the pumpkin.
  3. Wear a pair of glasses to protect your eye from the dust.
  4. Scoop out seeds with a spoon.
  5. Wear gloves to take out the seeds, in case your hand feels sensitive about it.
  6. Remember to store those seeds to roast them. The flavor of roast pumpkin seeds is so delicious.

Even though it’s a little dangerous to use knife to cut a pumpkin by myself, I still feel it’s so much fun to cut it. I enjoy carving a pumpkin!

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Have you eaten sushi in a Japanese restaurant before?

This semester, I’m so lucky I made some friends from Japan. Therefore, we decided to have a sushi party to make sushi together at Fontbonne University.

Before making the sushi together, Ian and I took the Japanese students to the Asian street on Olive Blvd to buy some ingredients to make California rolls and some traditional Japanese style rolls, like salmon and tuna. We bought sushi rice, seaweed, eggs, salmon, tuna, avocado, ginger, soy sauce, and sushi vinegar. They were so happy to go to the Asian supermarkets on Olive, because it was their first time to see some Asian foods and words they are familiar with in St.Louis. We had a good time  shopping in the grocery store.

After shopping, we separated into three teams to make different ingredients. Some people made the rice, some people dealt with seafood, and other people cooked some dumplings to let us eat some foods first.

I really like each team, all of them are excellent.

After 30 minutes, we made 19 rolls. Can you believe? 19 sushi rolls just for 7 people? And we really finished all of them in this sushi party. It was too delicious, and we  continued eating even though we felt so full. It was just like we were in an ALL YOU CAN EAT sushi bar.

After this party, I really think it’s important to gather people to make one thing together. Without them, we couldn’t finish 19 rolls in a few minutes. Because of them, the sushi party worked more efficiently, it was more interesting and it had some more traditional style. You know, when you make sushi and hear people talk to each other in Japanese, it’s just like I’m in Japan :)

I really loved this sushi party!

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A one-day trip is FREE in St. Louis?    What’s this for?

It’s a free one-day trip in St. Louis. Because many international students just arrived in St. Louis this year, the Fontbonne International Students Alliance (FISA) plans a day tour for students who are new in St. Louis. We had so much fun because many students have their own mother language, but we only can communicate with each other in English. It’s so interesting, isn’t it?

Last weekend, we started from Forest Park which is a really huge park. Can you believe it? It is 50% larger than Central Park in New York, so we took many pretty pictures over there. Then, we went to the old courthouse which is a really pretty building with many decorations inside. The old courthouse is a part of the Jefferson National Expansion Memorial, and it is just for visiting now, but it used to be used as a courthouse. It was also the largest structure in St. Louis until the Gateway Arch was built in 1965. I bet everyone knows the Gateway Arch which is the most well-know sightseeing in St. Louis. When I told my friends I study in St. Louis, they asked me: “Penny, are you in St. Louis? Oh, I know your arch and Cardinals.”  I’m so proud of our arch and cardinals, since it looks like a symbol for St. Louis.

Then, we went up to the Arch, and saw the whole view of St. Louis downtown, it’s so amazing! We saw the Mississippi River, downtown St. Louis, and cardinal’s stadium. After downtown area, we went to the West End which is a very nice neighborhood to enjoy our lunch. The last part but not the least sightseeing point we went to was the Cathedral Basilica which is the biggest and prettiest church I’ve seen.

I loved our one-day trip, since it’s really an abundant trip to make us know more about St. Louis. Thanks to Fontbonne for taking care of students so much, and also thanks to FISA for planning this trip to make everyone have a beautiful memory here.

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Yesterday, I had a good night because it was “President’s Night”, which is a Fontbonne event welcome to international students. At President’s night, our President, Dr. Golden and his wife, Monica, invited international students to come to their house and eat dinner together. I felt honored I had a chance to join this president’s night, and every international student had a great time because we made many friends there.

In the special night, we had a very delicious dinner and conversation not only with our president and his wife, but also with all the international students and friendly staff who work in the international center and student affairs. During the President’s Night, you can have a chance to make many friends with different students from different countries, and also have a chance to eat many delicious international foods, such as pasta with hummus, chicken with peanuts, and beef with sour cream.

When I joined the president’s night yesterday, I found out we have many international students from different countries, such as Japan, France, Taiwan, Mongolia, Saudi Arabia, and China. Isn’t it exciting to see students from different countries and states?

I want to welcome these international students and students from other states to join the Fontbonne community, I know you’re not alone even though you came to St.Louis by yourself, because Fontbonne is a big family. Here, you will make many good friends to support each other. Good luck to your new life at Fontbonne.

Penny

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Upcoming International Events!

by Lizzie February 21, 2012

Are you the type of person who is open to any culture, ethnicity, and values? Or maybe you love to try different delicacies or activities from all over the world? Well, guess what? Fontbonne International Students Alliance (FISA) will be hosting two exciting events in March! First, we have the International Potluck and different students [...]

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Let’s Blog :)

by Lizzie February 1, 2012

Hey everyone, I’m finally getting back into blogging. To start off, I am happy to be back in school. My classes so far are interesting and very educational. Not too long ago, we had the Chinese New Year Dinner at the Mandarin House which was a wonderful event! It’s great to meet so many different [...]

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Students writing for Real Life at Fontbonne are paid a small fee for each post by the university.