The traditional Southern-style sweet tea comes as a staple in North Carolina, but students from around the world take the beverage and its other forms just as seriously. Often cited as the second most consumed beverage, the world is full of countries with deep and diverse tea traditions.
That’s why the Offices of International Services’ came back to hold its annual International Tea and Coffee Festival.
“Tea is a very important part in many cultures [and] part of our goal is to educate… the community about the different countries and the different international students that we have on campus to try to promote international education,” Erin Moody, the office manager in the Office of International Services, said. “We think [this event is] a great way to bring American students and international students together to celebrate tea.”
Danny Riordan, a senior from Ireland studying mathematics and physics, said it is hard to understate the importance of Irish tea in Irish culture.
“It’s a staple of the Irish diet. You could easily have six cups of [Irish tea] in a day,” Riordan said. “[We drink it] pretty much all the time. It’s one of the stereotypes that is true. We do drink a lot of tea. It keeps you going. I don’t know how Americans keep going without as much tea as we have.”
OIS invited Riordan to share Irish tea culture with the community and Thursday afternoon he brought three different kinds of Irish tea to sample.
“I’m always here representing Ireland…I like to give everyone a flavor of Ireland so they get an idea of what it’s like ‘cause it’s something we do a lot; it’s part of our culture. So, it’s a nice thing to do.” Riordan said.
Riordan was among many other international students who came with similar sentiments.
Celeste Escotte , a freshman from Venezuela studying psychology, treated attendees to Venezuelan treats and chocolate tea.
“Food is a very important thing in our life… it identifies us,” Escotte said. “[ Venezuala ] is very identified by our chocolate…I love my country and I’m so happy to be here and represented.”
Student representatives from Venezuala and Ireland attended for the first time this year—with the largest turnout in the event’s history.
“We actually had double the number of countries as we did last year so it was a big success.” Moody said. “I think we had at least twice as many people as well that attended. So, we’re really pleased with the turn out this year.”
In addition to the increasing number of countries represented, many of the returning organizations also expanded their presentations. Min Yang, a Chinese Ph.D . student in mathematics, manned the booth representing China and offered attendees with nine different kinds of tea along with snacks.
The event brought back attendees from previous tea experiences to celebrate the University’s diversity this University International Month.
“I came last year with a group of guys I was living with.” Austin Ocheltree , a sophomore studying electrical engineering, said. “I love to come out and… I learned how [people] enjoy tea around the world.”
