This past Sunday I attended one of Fuqua’s traditional events, the Around the World Dinner. Once each quarter (four times per year), the MBA Association (MBAA) sponsors a dinner that highlights local food from around the world. Based on survey responses, the MBAA pairs together groups of students to try new food and meet each other.

I signed up for the dinner a few weeks ago, without realizing that I had a finance exam on Monday. However, the dinner turned out to be a nice and much needed break from studying.

I was invited to the apartment of my fellow first years, Dustin and Brandon. Dustin is from Chicago, Brandon is from Canada, and they put together an eclectic mix of a Chicago/Canadian dishes. We were emailed about the cuisine beforehand, and it was suggested that we go for a run earlier in the day, since it would not be the healthiest of meals! We started the meal with “Chicago style” hot dogs, which is a beef hot dog topped with yellow mustard, white onion, sweet relish, a dill pickle spear, two banana peppers, celery salt, and a tomato wedge. Note that the hot dogs should have been on a sesame seed bun, but Whole Foods did not live up to expectations for that component.

Next, we ate homemade Chicago style deep-dish pizza with sausage. And lastly, we were given good old-fashioned poutine. For the non-Canadian folk, poutine is a mix of french fries, cheese curds, and gravy. For dessert, the hosts made a Canadian butter pudding. The beverages included Molson’s from Canada and Leinenkugel (Wisconsin beer, closest to Chicago that could be found). The food was all very delicious (though I probably could have skipped the poutine) and I am glad that I tried some new menu items. I also love dessert and the butter pudding lived up to my expectations. There were 8 of us at the dinner, including the hosts, and it was very nice to meet some new classmates. We had a good representation from Sections 1, 2, 3, 4, and 5. I will definitely sign up again for the Around the World Dinner in Fall Term 2.