History of the lab parties

At the Ohio State University, Jane enjoyed the warm hospitality of her many friends, such as Mr. & Mrs. Mark & Debbie Ramsey, Mr. & Mrs. Earl & Doryce Lewis, Mrs. & Dr. Julia and Al Batata etc. Mark & Debbie hosted Friday bible study with delicious food to eat and ample opportunities to converse in English. Doryce was initially Jane's English conversation partner and then became her host family and one of her best friends. Doryce invited Jane to join the former's family’s Thanksgiving dinner with a bunch of international students year after year. Mrs. Batata treated Jane like her 3rd daughter and invited Jane to have Christmas with her family. So once Matt (from Canada) and Jane (from Taiwan) joined SIUC, they decided to open their house for their lab students and international students/scholars. They had hosted students/scholars from Brazil, China, Columbia, Germany, India, Iran, Iraq, Japan, Malaysia, Saudi Arabia, Thailand. Matt and Jane also joined the SIUC host family program and hosted three students from China and India for three years. In addition, they have lab parties to eat, discuss science and play strategic board games together with lab members. Following Doryce’s tradition, Matt and Jane host their annual Thanksgiving dinner for those international students who cannot go home. The below was a party for Sam and Suzanne in 2017.