Consider Hosting a Virtual MEAL

The Office of International Programs is looking for faculty/staff volunteers to register to host a Virtual MEAL @ Valpo coming up on Saturday, April 18. MEAL stands for meet, eat, and learn. Typically faculty/staff volunteer to host small groups of international students for a meal at home, but as we all practice social distancing, we thought it would be fun to try MEAL through a video call.

How will Virtual MEAL @ Valpo work?

We will introduce students assigned to you just as in the past, but instead of having them come to your home, we’ll send you a Google Meet link so you and your group can do a video call.

What will you talk about or do during Virtual MEAL @ Valpo?

You may still share a meal together virtually, give tours of your homes, find out where the students currently are (in Valpo, in another U.S. city, in their home country), or break the ice with any of the conversation starter questions in the MEAL Host Handbook. There are also apps to play virtual board games together like UNO and many others like Monopoly, Clue, Risk, Scattergories, etc. in the App Store or Google Play Store (some games have a small fee).

We will plan to match hosts with students on Monday, April 13, so please sign up by April 12. If you have questions, contact emily.prough@valpo.edu.