We gathered in Hunneman Hall, surrounded by our artwork and shared stories, experiences, dreams as we talked about our journey into art and creativity.

To finish, Marie Alice shared a beautiful poem by Helen Buckley with us, read it here.

21 members from the club toured some of the Asian Galleries at the MFA.

Philip Meredith talked about the history and development of paper making, looking at examples on show in the Japanese and Korean galleries.

Eka, Joyce, Marie Alice and Pauline worked very hard to prepare the Exhibit, arrange and hang everything, and now we all get to enjoy the display.

Hard at work !

Thank you, Nancy, for a wonderful evening

On this picture perfect day, 117th Boston Marathon day, we are deeply saddened by the terrible events at the finish line. Our heart and prayers go out to all those injured and killed and to their families.

As we do every year, many IWCB members participate as spectators, cheering on the runners and celebrating their triumph over 26.2 miles. Our sincere wish is that they and their family and friends are all safe at home tonight.

What is punctuality, and how does it differ from one culture to another? In a club like ours, this can be the basis for a good discussion. With members representing Northern and Southern European countries, as well as those from Asia, and North and South America, Ms. Snezana Pejic from The Etiquette Academy of New England helped us realize how deeply we remain in our own culture no matter where we live. Other topics covered were greetings, hierarchies, meals and table manners. Members learned a lot from Snezana and from each other during the course of the discussion.

Afterwards, Ines took everyone to the Venezuelan restaurant “Orinoco”, where we sampled fried plantains “maduros”, tequeños, yuca frita and arepas.

As usual, a fun day, thank you to everyone that made it possible: Brigitte F for introducing us to Snezana, Snezana for dedicating time to us, , Marie Alice for organizing, and Lucrecia for the photos.

International Women’s Month & Kosher Food

Cultural Exchangeon Friday, March 15th was well attended. 18-20 members gathered.

We marked International Women’s Month by sharing personal stories of the status of women in our countries of origin.  Ines A. spoke about her experience in Venezuela as a  woman chemical engineer in her field. Debra S. told us fascinating stories about Israeli women and the history and meaning behind “kosher” cuisine.

Although it was a particularly cold day, everyone bundled up and we went to lunch at Zaftigs Delicatessan. Debra recommended a good sampling of typical kosher-style food which we all thoroughly enjoyed.  Following lunch, we followed Debra around Brookline as she explained the importance of Shabbat and walked us through a kosher grocery store, “Butcherie” where we saw an impressive array of Jewish and Israeli specialty foods. We then stopped at Kupel’s Bakery to sample some rugallah and poppy seed homentaschen. Delicious! A delightful afternoon was had by all!

Thank you Mary Louise for hosting coffee and taking us for an interesting walk around Coolidge Corner.

The S.S. Pierce Building, on Coolidge Corner, was constructed in 1897, and originally was S.S. Pierce grocery store.  It is a historically significant Tudor-style building and has accommodated a number of businesses over the years.

Finally, we had lunch at the Japanese Restaurant FuGaKyu.

On Thursday, January 10th, we had the opportunity to learn about Chinese Art, Calligraphy, and Culture as part of our Cultural Exchange program.

Dr. Cathy Chan, the Founding President of the Foundation for Chinese Performing Arts, and Mr. Mike Mei 梅宇國, calligrapher  joined us for an informal, interactive Art Demonstration.

Dr. Cathy Chan gave a tour of the Chinese paintings hanging in Hunneman Hall and talked about the philosophy and meanings behind the symbols depicted in the paintings.

Both Mr. Mike Mei and Dr. Cathy Chan gave a live demonstration of different calligraphy styles, and bamboo painting. Pauline, Meera and Judith captured the presentation, thanks for sharing your photos!

After the demonstration we proceeded to a restaurant down the street for a Chinese meal and plenty of laughter as we all attempted to practice phrases in Flemish, French, Korean and Chinese — a veritable pot pourri of languages!