The smell of fresh-brewed coffee wafted through the fall breeze, as conversations in Spanish, French, Chinese and English permeated the air.
The second floor patio of Tom Bradley International Hall was transformed into an international coffee house on Thursday, during the World Café event hosted by the Dashew Center for International Students and Scholars.
More than 300 international and domestic students, professors and staff stopped by on Thursday to try a variety of coffees and teas imported from different countries ““ including Israeli iced coffee and Cuban Colada ““ and converse with one another.
The World Café event is part of recent initiatives to involve the entire community at UCLA with Dashew events, said Shideh Hanassab, interim director of the Dashew Center. Other initiatives include those such as the Global Siblings program, which the Bruin reported on earlier this month.
The event is a revamped version of “International Coffee Breaks” that the center used to host up until spring quarter, which were themed for holidays, said Hanassab.
“We wanted a daytime event where people can take a break from classes and studying, and grab a cup of coffee and meet other people,” said Jennie Weingarten, director of programs and assistant director of the center.
Staff from the center opted to replace disposable cups with reusable glass mugs to encourage students to stay longer and mingle rather than take the coffee to go, she added.
Throughout the afternoon, undergraduate and graduate students of all backgrounds stopped by, chatting on the patio and sharing life experiences and stories about their time at UCLA.
Airin Hoshino, a third-year communication studies student who grew up in Japan, said she enjoyed socializing with fellow students.
“I think the greatest purpose (of the event) is having great conversation with kids from all over,” Hoshino said. “Usually, international students only have international friends. It’s great to have a social life with everyone.”
As he handed out mugs of steaming Costa Rican coffee to visitors, Allen Kei, a first-year business economics student from Korea, said he hopes events like the World Café will help him transition to college life by introducing him to more students in the UCLA community.
Second-year mechanical engineering graduate student Scott Strutner and five of his classmates took a break from working in a lab for some coffee and conversation. They said they found out about the event through an international student working in their lab.
A California native, Strutner said he enjoyed meeting the international community at UCLA.
As the event came to a close, international and domestic students, many who hadn’t known each other just two hours prior, set down their glass mugs and left the patio ““ some still deep in conversation.
Organizers plan to host the event twice every quarter. Weingarten hopes attendees will enjoy something far more valuable than coffee ““ the chance to take a break from class, meet new people and form new friendships, she said.
“We’re trying to get the word out that the Dashew programs are for everybody, not just for international students,” Weingarten said. “Domestic students are not only welcome to come, but encouraged to.”
Email Baklajian at abaklajian@media.ucla.edu.