Sitting down and talking may just be the oldest way to get to know someone.

To allow students from different continents, countries and cultures to meet each other, Friday Caf‚ encourages international and American students to sit down and chat.

Friday Caf‚ is a student-run, cross-cultural program, sponsored by International Educational Services, that gets international and American students to sit down informally and get to know each other, said Kamal Elbasher, program coordinator of Friday Caf‚.

Every Friday from 3 to 5 p.m. at the Maintenance Shop, 30 to 40 students come to talk.

Some Fridays there will be a particular topic, such as dating around the world, or programs where the students give presentations about their cultures, said Elbasher, program coordinator of international educational services.

“It’s a way to meet people, there is always a new person and a new face,” said Olamide Shadiya, junior in chemical engineering and international peer assistant.

Weiyi Xiong, senior in accounting and student coordinator of Friday Caf‚, said the caf‚ helps her communicate with other international and American students.

“It’s a great opportunity to improve my English,” she said. “I like this program — we don’t have a lot of chances to talk to real Americans.”

Xiong said the caf‚ gives international students a chance to learn about different cultures by talking to students when they aren’t rushing off to class.

“[International students] won’t feel nervous to speak English around other international students,” Xiong said.

Every week, Xiong said she tries to think of new ways to attract more people, and this semester there has been a different activity every week, she said.

Doug VanWerden, senior in civil engineering, has been going to the Friday Caf‚ for three years.

“Having things like Friday Caf‚ gives me the opportunity to hear new perspectives that aren’t stifled in anyway,” he said. “People are very free about what they want to talk about.”

The conversations never get heated and are always very civil,” VanWerden said. “Everyone is trying to help solve the world’s problems.”

In addition to Friday Caf‚, International Educational Services offers another program to help international students to get to know American students.

Friendship International is a national program that matches international students with American individuals or families, said Virginia McCallum, program coordinator of Friendship International.

“The program has been at ISU for 10 years or more,” said McCallum, program coordinator of international educational services. “Ten percent of ISU students are international students, and 80 percent of them never get to the home of an American. They spend four to eight years studying here, and they leave thinking we’re what they see in the movies.”

When American individuals or families are matched with international students, they are required to meet three times throughout the semester, McCallum said.

“You don’t have to do anything special, just invite the student along on normal activities,” she said. “It’s very easy because they don’t live with you.”

Those paired up with international students often try to show them how Americans live every day as well as traditions, such as handing out candy on beggar’s night, or Halloween, McCallum said.