A week before the event, we sent around sign-up sheets at church for international dishes–main, dessert or other. We also had people sign up to bring an international centerpiece or any decorations from places they’d traveled.  We decorated the room with globes of the earth, travel posters and things people brought. We played a youtube travel video on the big screen so it looked like we were in the dining room of a cruise ship!

At each table we had questions with a table captain appointed who stayed there to keep everyone on track. After about 5 minutes of visiting and hearing everyone’s answers to the questions, we rotated 2 more times, then we had dinner. After dinner we had a special performance by a professional ballroom dance couple in our ward. They were fantastic.

The rest of the evening was spent eating and visiting. The food was fantastic and there was plenty. The food tables were arranged by continent/area (North and South America, Asia and Pacific, Europe, Africa) with a poster by each with statistics about each area from the church website (number of members, # of temples, countries in the area, etc.)

Everyone LOVED this activity and want to repeat it every year. We had an excellent turn out for such a quickly-put-together event. We asked that it be adults only, and provided a nursery for those who needed babysitting help.

SPEED QUESTIONS:
· Name a place you would love to visit and tell why.
· Name three places where you have lived (international or US), other than your current home.
· Name a country that your ancestors came from.
· If you served a mission, where did you serve?
· Do you speak a language other than English?  Which language have you dreamed of learning?

Our neighbors and friends:

The punch we served was one of our favorites–you mix one can of white grape juice concentrate with a liter of Fresca and serve it with pebble ice.  YUM.