Annual festival offers a taste of culture |
| Posted by Administrator on Mar 11 2009 at 2:21 PM |
Photo by Josh Moody
Students from China demonstrate a traditional Chinese dance.
By Josh Moody
Antelope Staff
Cushing Coliseum exploded into a colorful hub of culture with students both international and domestic, as well as community members coming together for the annual Scott and Cheryl Morris International Food and Culture Festival on March 8.
Held annually since 1976, the International Food and Cultural Festival features an array of international students who share their unique culture with their fellow students as well as community members outside of campus.
Activities at this year's festival ranged from calligraphy demonstrations performed by Japanese students, to musical performances by students from China and Nepal and dances from China, The Bahamas, Nepal, Colombia and India.
Students from several African countries put together a fashion show. Students from South Korea demonstrated Taekwondo, wowing the crowd with their high flying martial arts antics that involved a display of both basic techniques and board breaks.
Not to be outdone, Japanese students demonstrated their native Kendo, a martial art dating back to the days of the samurai who used Kendo to train for battle.
Away from the stage and the tables laden with food, international students posted at tables displayed articles from their cultures. One of the most visited tables was that of South Korea, where Korean students displayed the traditional game of Tuho, a 2,000-year-old game in which gamers throw a small bamboo stick into a jar placed a few feet away.
Children, bright eyed and smiling, circled around the Tuho table to play the game that was once popular with Korean nobles. But it was not only the children who enjoyed themselves, young and old alike crowded into the event with eager smiles and curious minds.
The backbone of this festival is the international students themselves who work diligently preparing food native to their countries and practicing to perfect their festival performances.
"We started practicing for our performance a month ago. Then we decide what we are cooking and we get in touch with the board members of the international student association to tell them what we are going to cook," Camilla Parra said. Parra, a senior economics major from Bogota, Colombia, danced the Garaboto, a traditional Colombian dance.
Nontraditional student Sally Hale and her five-year-old daughter Lillian were very impressed with the efforts made by the international community. Hale, a freshman English major from Loomis, said that she and her daughter tried all of the food available. Hale said that her daughter Lillian "loved the chicken legs" and described them as being "kind of like mom's, but not really." Hale recommended that others with children should bring them to the International Food and Cultural Festival.
"Living in a rural community, its good exposure for the children to be around other cultures, it's important to learn about different cultures," Hale said.
As much as Hale, her daughter and numerous others enjoyed the International Food and Cultural Festival, there were perhaps none who enjoyed it more than the international students themselves.
"It's a time where we get to show off our cultures and introduce our foods," said Rudolph McKinney Jr., a junior aviation management major from Freeport Grand Bahama, The Bahamas.
Ramesh Neupane, a junior accounting major from Kathmandu, Nepal, who serves the role of public relations liaison for ISA, described the festival as an annual highlight for international students. "This is the main program for international students. Every international student is here right now. It's really exciting, everyone is enjoying the food and the performances," Neupane said.
And at the end of the day, it seemed that Neupane was right. Students and community members alike left the three-hour event with not only a stomach full of savory food, but also a taste of international cultures.
