Making Amherst Your Home Away From Home

For many international students at Amherst, November can feel like an emotional crossroads. Too late in the semester to still feel “new,” but too early for the comfort of going home. It’s a time when the weather sharpens, workloads stack up, and the distance from family begins to feel heavier. But this year, as always, the Center for International Students (CISE) stepped in with two events that didn’t just celebrate culture, but made space for students to feel grounded in who they are. Unapologetically International and Global Kitchen arrived within days of each other, turning the Eighmy Powerhouse and Valentine Dining Hall’s Lewis-Sebring dining room into makeshift homes.

On Nov. 20, the Powerhouse buzzed with excitement as students gathered for Unapologetically International, an evening of performance dedicated to showcasing the creativity and cultural identity of Amherst’s international community. The event opened with a high-energy performance by K:NETICS, before moving into a lineup featuring Raffay Tabassum ’25E, Ryogo Katahira ’27, Sofia Ahmed Seid ’27, Yilin Huang ’28, Sam Jafari ’29, Jiyuan Ji ’28, Kateryna Havryshchuk ’26, exchange student Joy Choi, and Laura Tamamian from Hampshire College. The performances, ranging from dances and poetry readings to rap songs, drew from different cultures in South Korea, China, Ukraine, Armenia, Ethiopia, Afghanistan, Japan, and Pakistan. Together, the performances offered more than entertainment — they shared stories. For many students, the chance to perform was an opportunity to connect with their roots, while for others it was a way to celebrate friends’ cultures in a shared space. It was also a great opportunity for the international community to proudly wear their cultural attire on campus.

Just four days later, CISE recreated that feeling again, this time through food. Global Kitchen 2025, held on Nov. 24 in Lewis-Sebring, invited international students to become chefs for the night and prepare dishes from home that they miss most. The featured dishes read like a world map of flavor: lamb plov, fish sauce-glazed pork belly, steamed ribs, firni, dumplings, and so much more. The preparation started on Nov. 23 and went on until the next day with the help of the Val staff.

Students talked about the meals they missed from home, how their parents made these dishes, and what the food meant to them growing up. People moved from table to table, trying small portions and asking about ingredients or traditions behind each recipe. Additionally, any student, staff, or faculty living on campus during the break were invited to share these dishes at the end. The event concluded with everyone voting for their favourite dish, which turned out to be the steamed ribs with black beans by Ji. As the winner of the competition, Ji’s dish is going to be featured in the Val menu during the next semester.

Together, the two events showed how much a sense of home matters, especially for students who are far away from theirs. Through music, clothing, and food, international students were able to share the parts of their lives that don’t always show up in classrooms or dining hall conversations. These CISE programs didn’t just celebrate cultural diversity — they helped students feel seen and supported. They created spaces where people didn’t have to explain or translate themselves, and where being international wasn’t something that set them apart, but something that brought people together.