Streuselkuchen and Long Words: Checking out International Coffee Hour

Have you ever tasted Streuselkuchen (pronounced, shtroi-zuh l-koo-khuh)? Its crumbly, yeasty, sugary top and familiar coffee cake bottom captivated the appetites of many as they drank coffee and mingled Thursday afternoon at the UWM Union during the International Coffee Hour, sponsored by Sociocultural Programming, the Center for International Education, and Inclusive Excellence Center.

“UWM is home to approximately 1500 international students from 90 different countries, and approximately 600 UWM students in study abroad programs,” According to the Student Involvement website.

Many international students spend time in the Center for International Education.

“The goal was to have our international students come into the union,” said Mikey Murry, Sociocultural Programming Undergraduate Assistant and coordinator of the International Coffee Hour.

In close coordination with Sue Conway of the Center of International Education and the Inclusive Excellence Center, Murry and Social Cultural programming have brought UWM the International Coffee Hour since 2014. They focused earlier this year on Mexico and most recently on Germany.

“We wanted it be a chance for international students to network with people from Milwaukee, Minnesota, and wherever people typically in the union are from,” said Murry, who coordinated and acted as a host of the event.

“We really want to encourage students to learn about other countries but also thinking about the experience of going abroad said Susan Conway, incoming exchange student coordinator and study abroad administrator.

The room buzzed with conversations in both German and English just before German exchange students Pia Hanson, Lorenz Hagelucken, and Helena Enderle delivered an interactive presentation on all things German. Studying at UWM through the Hessen-Wisconsin Exchange Program, the blue-shirted trio warmed up the audience up with a quiz about where Germany was on the world map, and how to say hello in German (Hallo!), but as each slide progressed the facts became more interesting.

For instance when then trio asked what a Rindfleishetiketierungsüberwachungsaufgabenübertragungsgesetz was, the crowd seemed amused and taken aback.

Put simply, the term speaks to a specific law that labels beef. Sometimes the German language will combine multiple words to make titles “more simple” as opposed using multiple “of the, and from” as often done in English, Hagelucken explained.

Outside of linguistics, the trio noted prominent German companies like Adidas, Daimler-Benz, and Siemens, which many Americans are familiar with. Mentioning the diverse religious demographics in Germany, Enderle said the nation can be considered “30, 30, 30” as 30% of Germans are protestant, 30% are Catholic, and roughly 30% are Muslim or some other religion. Enderle also highlighted German efforts to welcome refugees and the German holiday of Fasching, during which costumes are worn – similar to Halloween.

Student Mara Mcmullen, who studies German, found the presentation to be very interesting because she “learned things that you normally don’t get to touch on in class” while the multi-t-shirt winning student, Jorad Halase remarked how “it’s important to just be aware of everything that is out there.”

The next International Coffee Hour will be on Wednesday, Nov. 18 from 2:30-3:30 p.m. in the Inclusive Excellence Center, and will focus on American Indian Nations.