Don’t let the headline make you think it was a party with an 80’s English rock band, but it was a gathering of international students and current and former teachers in Valley Oaks.

On Sunday, February 22, Cotter’s international seniors went to a party held by Mr. Frank Smith,  a Cotter religion teacher prior to retiring last year, to celebrate Lunar New Year. After an evening of fun and games, all left with smiles on their faces.

Mr. Smith, and many of the students, were looking forward to a reunion this year. After a bit of planning, it was decided to hold a party at Mr. Smith’s house to celebrate the Chinese New Year. Most of the international senior students were grateful to attend.

“It was really great to be gathered once again with friends and teachers,” Cotter senior, Eric Cho, commented, “We will not be able to celebrate the New Year with our family, but it was great that teachers gave us an opportunity to celebrate something important to us.”

“Seniors, teachers, and Mr. Smith all had great time with international dishes. Thanks Mr. Smith for inviting all to your house. We miss you at Cotter!,” Kaho Nagayama said,

“It was a great opportunity for all the seniors to gather in one place with all the teacher, and just have a good time,” Jungwon (Han) Han said.

HyunJun (Jun) Cho added that, “It was like a melting pot, because lots of various people gathered and had a good time.”

To have some fun and embrace the cultural differences, the students cooked  dishes from different nations and teachers brought snacks and drinks.

The Japanese students cooked fried pork, or, tonkatsu, as they call it in Japan. The Chinese students cooked wonton/dumplings, and fried rice with eggs and meat. Students from Taiwan cooked green onion pancakes. The Korean students cooked  bulgogi.

Finally, Mrs.Smith cooked pizza, pasta, and brownies.

“It was pretty good. We, the international students, all worked together to make multiple very delicious dishes, and all with help from friends. We had good communication with every teacher, which showed the good relationship between teachers and students at Cotter. Thank you Mr. Smith for providing us with such a great opportunity to bring the students over and have a closer relationship with the teachers,” Shien (Jay) Feng said.