PITTSFIELD, Maine — Maine Central Institute held its annual International Food Festival on Sunday.
International boarding students, representing about 20 countries, made dishes to share with the community.
"I feel like I should share my culture from Vietnam to everywhere, so everyone can understand the Vietnamese food as well," Thu Huynh, a student at MCI, said.
Huynh moved from Vietnam eight months ago. She and her friend made some Vietnamese pancakes stuffed with pork for the festival. She admitted she was originally a bit nervous to participate, but seeing the positive feedback from community members made her proud.
"It always makes me feel really happy because I'm kind of nervous. Like, can people, like American people, enjoy Vietnamese food or not? Because it's kind of different from the food right here," she said.
But that's what MCI's Head of School David Pearson said makes MCI so unique. MCI has students from 23 different countries, Pearson said.
"One of the things that distinguishes MCI is our diversity, because we have students from all over the world mixed each and every day, with local students that come in from local communities," Pearson said. "It breaks down ethnocentric prejudice. They understand each other's histories, cultures and they get to discuss it both in the classroom and in their friend groups."
The International Food Festival is a longstanding tradition at MCI since 2007, according to event organizer Artur Fass.
"This is our way for our boarding students to say thank you to the community and share their culture and food," Fass said.