#GlobalLocalCelebrations of 12 Years of InterNations

By Erin McBrayer

In honor of our 12th anniversary, our Ambassadors and Consuls organized events and activities to celebrate with our members, as they are all the stars of our global community! And of course, we wanted to see all these celebrations! So, we asked members to share their photos on Instagram using the hashtag #GlobalLocalCelebrations. We received hundreds of entries — from 12th anniversary fun runs, to themed brunches, and festive parties — and had an incredibly tough time choosing our favorites.

The Runners Up

We want to say a special thank you to everyone who participated in our contest or just attended an event or participated in an activity. We loved seeing the variety of ways you celebrated with your local InterNations Community. All of these fun photos made voting a challenge, but we managed to narrow it down to two finalists and one winning photo.

Mingling in Malaga

Odette is an Ambassador in our Malaga Community, and she submitted several fantastic photos from the InterNations Malaga Anniversary Event. For her, the lovely attendees, delicious cake, and live band was what made the celebration extra special.

After moving to Spain, Odette became a member of InterNations in 2015 as she was looking for a way to make new friends. Since then she has become a key member of the community, and even celebrates her birthday with friends from InterNations!

Decked Out in Dallas

Volunteers in our Dallas Community put on quite an event to celebrate our anniversary — attendees were asked to don blue, white, and/or gold in honor of InterNations. The organizers of the event love “that there's a familiarity that you can count on when you come… people know your name and even if you're a new member, you feel welcome. It's really a family. This foundation is what makes this and other events special!” No matter what they’re celebrating, this community likes to make events unique and as big as Texas!

Ambassador’s Ashish, Dorbrina, Fabiola, Sanjeed, and Sarah say they joined InterNations for the “diversity and cultural richness of its members”. Getting to connect with global minds and members from so many different countries is what makes the InterNations experience unique to them.

Photo by Antomio Cchirca

And the Winner Is…

Our winning picture was submitted by Grishka, also an InterNations Ambassador. Grishka originally joined InterNations after being invited by a friend. She was feeling a bit alone in Mexico City and looking to make connections outside of work. After attending several events, she became more involved in the community and now helps lead it.

Her photo captures the wonderful moment when our Mexico City Community came together to blow out the candles on a birthday cake. Grishka shared that, right before this photo was taken, the attendees from over 47 countries all sang Happy Birthday to InterNations. The event was the perfect opportunity to truly celebrate friendship and a community of stars. “Each of them is the bright star, the heart and soul of InterNations,” Grishka says. “Enthusiasm was in the air that night, with more than a hundred people toasting, singing, dancing, and sharing laughs and stories.”

This celebration was particularly special and with a live band, a comedy show, and of course a DJ, there was truly something for everyone.

To see more entries head over to the #GlobalLocalCelebrations hashtag on Instagram, and while you’re there don’t forget to follow us if you haven't already.

About Erin McBrayer

Erin McBrayer is an American expat living in Munich, Germany. Originally from the state of North Carolina, she moved to Germany several years ago and found a new home in Bavaria. Erin is the Social Media Manager at InterNations and an avid traveler, who explores cities one meal at a time.

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