At our entry the delicious fragrance of all the food immediately enters our nostrils. When asking what the most typical Indonesian dish is, no unambiguous answers can be heard. Steven Harianto, a Fontys student of Electrical Engineering and responsible for the organization of this day, informs us: “Indonesian cuisine is full of typical Indonesian dishes. Moreover, the country is so vast that every island has its own herbs and cooking customs.” In the end he recommends that we try the nasis bungkus. A rice roll with vegetables, sambal and satay. We also sample djokja, a typical dish from Yogyakarta, with minced meat, carrot and leek.

In addition to delicious food, dancing and music are important components of the afternoon. In a dance workshop we learn the tricks of the Indonesian dance, and everybody is free to have a go at playing the Javanese instrument angklung. There are even prizes to be won: Juan Pablo Gutierrez of the Department of Chemical Engineering and Chemistry has won an Indonesian mask and a bracelet in the quiz with questions about Indonesia.

At five o’clock the event is drawing to an end. The organization, the Indonesian Student Association, is looking back on a successful day. Steven Harianto: “We intend to organize an event like this every year, especially considering that things have proceeded so smoothly and so many people have shown up.” Srinivas Dasam from India thinks that every nationality should organize something like this. He answers the question who should go next by saying the Mexicans, but they do not agree with that altogether yet. (HB)