Exotic flavors of food, colorful decorations and stylish costumes were some of the elements at the sold-out International Night 2004 Sunday evening.
The International Student Association sponsored the 41st annual International Night, the largest cultural event on campus. More than 170 volunteers, 28 committee heads and ISA members and 16 interns and officers helped put on the event.
The evening started with about 50 volunteers serving one of 22 cultural dishes in the EMU Skylight Lounge. The food was from 16 different countries.
“This is like an international tapas bar,” sophomore Laura Johnson said. She added that “the peas are damn tasty,” referring to the pea curry from Tanzania.
Sophomore Jose Delapaz had high compliments for the food.
“The Chinese food tasted like it came from a restaurant,” he said.
Other items included Mediterranean feta spread from Egypt, bubble tea from China and fried fish in peanut sauce from Congo.
Sophomore Jessica Bryan, a food committee head, said she has been preparing for this event for 10 weeks.
“I didn’t know what I was getting myself into,” she said.
Volunteers had been cooking all weekend in preparation for the event.
“The dedication of the cooks that came in was amazing,” Bryan said. She added that she enjoyed working with people from different ethnic backgrounds and appreciated everyone’s perspectives.
A book of the recipes can be found in the International Lounge in the EMU.
The main attraction of the night was the show in the packed EMU Ballroom. The theme of the night was “Kaleidoscope: Seeing cultures in a new light.” The show began with a video of students saying what they thought “kaleidoscope” meant. ISA Director Matt Yeow welcomed the audience and said that like a kaleidoscope, cultures are a fusion of patterns and colors that come together to make beautiful combinations.
“We hope you will come away with new perspectives on culture,” he said.
Throughout the show, kaleidoscope images were projected on the wall behind the performers. There were 14 numbers in the show, with performances coming from many countries, including Japan, India, Germany, China, Ukraine and Latin American countries. Dance was the most popular medium, but performers also sang, played musical instruments and performed martial arts.
“I was touched by it because of the importance of the time,” said sophomore Elana Mater about a German peace song.
Robert Hafenbrak, a performer and exchange student from Germany, said he enjoyed participating in the show.
“Sometimes it was exhausting, but when you’re done the more you enjoy it,” he said.
Hafenbrak said he enjoyed meeting all the performers from other countries.
“This year’s show was a great success compared to other years,” said Dipa Malakar, co-director of International Week and Night. “This year there were a lot of people involved.”
She said the hard work and planning since the middle of winter term was worth it. She said the best part was getting positive feedback from the audience about the food, decorations and show.
“If people missed it this year, I’d recommend for them to come next year,” she said.