CIS International Festival

Shannon and I pose before the throngs arrive.

The American offering.

It was our school's first-ever International Festival, hosted at the upper school, and largely run by the diverse group of families that attend Cambridge International School. I volunteered to handle America (ably assisted by Paul) and our good friend Shannon Houde, a fellow American, whose son Max attends nursery with Charlotte. Her husband is Quebecois, so she spearheaded the Canadian contingent of our North America effort.

And let me tell you, it is not easy to divine strictly American delicacies (to be sampled by.....400!). What is America but a melange of every culture. But I think we hit the bulls eye with Toll House chocolate chip cookies, pumpkin pie topped with cream, Cheese Whiz on Ritz (our joke item, which by the way, the French contingent did not get at all...) and the hands-down favorite/controversial item: Root Beer soda.

Ms. Easy and Ms. Nichols sample the pie.

"Is it really beer?" asked many of the children. I tried to explain the addictive nature of root beer to those who'd never tried it and wrinkled their noses at the smell. But funny, they kept coming back for more (one girl reappeared no less than 4 times, "sneaking" a total of 15 cups for her friends sitting at a craft table. I counted). But my favorite comment, overheard, was a delightful little boy who brought a friend over to sample this new discovery.

"It takes a lot like mouthwash," he explained to his 8-year-old companion. "But it's quite lovely."

The Koreans served a delicious rice wine!

The finishing touch to our display was a power-point presentation about America, a self-deprecating romp that included some very funny quotes and factoids.  

"Very little is known about the War of 1812 because the Americans lost it."  ~Eric Nicol.

The puppet theater.

Charlotte and her puppet Angelina take the stage.

The event was a big success. In addition to  our food stall,  there were delicacies from all around the world - stinky cheeses from France, sweets from Australia, Spanish wines and dishes, Korean BBQ and dumplings, Indian  food galore, and a slew of activities for the kids, from drumming (led by a musician from Guinea), puppet making courtesy a puppet theater, Asian fan decorating, and Chinese Calligraphy, Japanese mask making, polish dancing, the list goes on. It was a great representation of the cultures at CIS. 


The evening closed out with fireworks on the property. We're very proud of our new school.