On 19 December 2018, Jean Monnet Centre of Excellence (CoE) at Kobe University organised its first cultural event "Christmas and New Year's holidays in Europe" in Room 503 of Academia Hall for Social Sciences at Rokkodai campus of Kobe University.
　Three students (from Germany, Spain and England) presented Christmas customs and traditions of their home countries. The event was attended by 13 students who could taste traditional Christmas cakes, such as the German Christmas cake Stollen, the Italian Christmas cake Panettone and the traditional English Christmas Pudding. Students also enjoyed eating 12 grapes, following the Spanish New Year's tradition of eating 12 grapes in order to have 12 lucky months.
　The event provided students with a good opportunity to become familiar with the rich cultural heritage and cultural diversity of Europe. Our Jean Monnet CoE will continue to organise the cultural events so that our students can experience European cultural traditions and become better prepared for their future studies in Europe.