The living learning communities (LLC) started Global Block party during their inaugural year as communities. This event originated as a chance for incoming vandals to get a taste not only of different countries cultures, but also an idea of programs that happen in the residence halls. Every year each building selects a country to represent.

This year seven countries from throughout the world were represented. The resident assistants to the living learning communities were in charge of planning, organizing and executing this event. Planning for the event started in January at the beginning of spring semester.

This program was funded through all the different halls throughout residence life, the Residence Hall Association (RHA) and the Associated Students of the University of Idaho (ASUI). The program cost roughly $5000 for food, games, decorations and prizes.

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Participants received their passports around the world upon arriving at the LLCs. The passports included information on each country and had a place for notes as well as a place for a stamp showing the country had been visited. These passports were turned in after collecting stamps from each of the countries to receive two raffle tickets for a chance to win their choice of prizes.

Global Village represented India; they served pita and humus as their food item. They also had a station where participants could get a henna tattoo. Upham hall represented Egypt. As you entered the hall it was like you were walking into an ancient world. The walls were covered in gold hieroglyphs and they had different stations that gave you the opportunity to learn how to spell your name in hieroglyphs or dress someone up like a mummy. For the dish they made cornbread that was soaked in honey and topped with chunks of almonds. College of Natural Resources LLC represented Brazil. The hall served stuffed meat pockets and had a indoor soccer game going on. Gault hall, one of the traditional LLCs represented Ireland. Ireland could be heard from all the other countries due to live bagpipe players they had. They served bread with a meat spread and had a scavenger hunt game set up. Engineering LLC was Norway. They brought the Olympic sport that made Norway famous at the 2010 winter Olympics, curling indoors. Rolling desk chairs were used to curl across the floor. In Norway they served a traditional Lefse. The country of Thailand was represented by Scholars LLC. Pad Thai was served and you got to pick between vegetarian or chicken. New Zealand was represented by Gem LLC. They served sausage and had people tell them a fact they learned about New Zealand before they would stamp peoples passports. They also had a couple different activities going on and they were fishing and a facts quiz.

At the end of the night prizes were handed out. Prizes ranged from movie packs to a flat screen TV. Following the completion an open mic night was held, so people had something to do after the event. All in all, this event was a huge success over 400 people made the journey around the world through this program. Food, prizes and games were enjoyed by everyone.

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The main goal of this program was to inform participants about different cultures around the world. As they travelled from country to country they learned about the different types of food, social standards and random facts.

Another goal of this program was to give future students a glance of what they can expect from programs within the residence halls. Some of the students visiting for Vandal Friday have not yet made up their mind as to if they will be vandals in the fall so this event also acts as a recruitment tool for the University and the residence halls.

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One of the positive effects that comes from Global Block party is participants get an idea of what the LLC's are like. Residents come from all the different living communities on campus and seeing the LLC's from this program encourages residents to spend extra years living on campus. Another lasting effect is that the participants gain knowledge about different countries they may have not known before. For example some people might not have known that the capital of Ireland is Dublin or that the capital of New Zealand is the southernmost capital in the world. Overall the greatest effect of this program is the effect that is made on visitors to Vandal Friday, giving them an idea of what it is like to live in the residence halls and helping to influence their decision to live in the residence halls.

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This program was very successful and most of the participants enjoyed the time the spent at the program. It is an excellent way for people who do not get to travel to get a taste of each of the different countries that were represented. It was a good opportunity for the residents to interact with others that they do not normally see and the students that volunteered to help got to learn more in depth for the countries that they helped represent. This program will continue to happen each year.

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This program can be adapted to virtually any campus for any time of the year. Each hall can be a different country and participants can journey through the world. It could also be done in one big room with booths for different countries. For example one way this program could be adapted would be to have Christmas around the world and each floor or hall could represent Christmas traditions from different countries from all over the world and the potential for personal growth and knowledge of other countries is endless.

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