Filling the EMU Ballroom on Saturday, University community members feasted on traditional dishes and played trivia games for prizes during the Indonesian Student Association’s annual Indonesia Night.
An opportunity for Indonesian students to share their culture with others, the event was also a fundraiser for tsunami relief.
This year’s Indonesia Night was organized by senior Deny Unardi and other members of the association.
“No one thinks we can pull this off,” Unardi said. “Ten or 12 students worked with me to plan a really fun night.”
Unardi booked Portland band Jem & Dawalk to provide live entertainment for the event.
Group members and other volunteers spent Friday and Saturday cooking several Indonesian dishes. The students cooked a beef stew, called beef rendang, as well as a variety of meat and vegetarian dishes, and dessert. Although Indonesian dishes typically aren’t spicy, many are flavored with curry.
“I helped with the cooking and I’m done,” senior Andreas Subekti said. “Now I want to taste the food.”
All of the dishes served were traditional items from different places in Indonesia.
As the culinary smells wafted through the ballroom, Unardi began the evening with a moment of silence in memory of tsunami
victims. Unardi and other students then sang along with the Indonesian national anthem.
Posters on the far wall of the ballroom detailed different locales in Indonesia. Throughout the night, the group offered prizes for the first person to answer trivia questions about Indonesia. The prizes included native headwear and angklungs, traditional wooden wind instruments.
Freshman Randi Albanese attended the event because she is currently involved in a geography class
and wanted to take the opportunity to learn about different parts of
the world.
“I thought it would be interesting,” Albanese said. “It’s a part of the world I don’t know about, and there is food.”
Unardi said Saturday was the
first time Indonesia Night was free of charge.
“This way people want to donate more (for tsunami relief),” Unardi said. “The money will go to International Red Cross.”
Everyone who donated was given a purple lei to wear for the evening.
Angie Broeckel, who works in
the University ticket office, staffed the donation table, making
overtures that “everyone should be leid tonight.
Junior Anders Hansen, a member of the International Student
Association, sat at the V.I.P. table.
“I enjoy the events,” Hansen said. “The University has one of the largest international student bodies. People need to be made aware of the cultural diversity and these nights are a good initiative for that.”

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