International Cultural Gala

Today we took part in the International Cultural Gala on campus. Most countries had a both and so did the USA (although we weren't sure if it would work out). Our booth was not too good because it was thrown together with limited supply of food, but still glad we made one. We decorated the booth with balloons taped to the back wall in the form of a flag, had brownies, some American flags, and a slideshow of American landmarks with American music.  The Gala started out with a performance from the hall dance team, our friend Lorena is the only white person on it, and then other countries did a performance of some kind. I participated when the Finnish people taught a traditional dance that is basically like a congo line but with some feet sticking out and hopping. It was pretty hilarious to watch I'm sure. My favorite performance though was the Korean drums. I added the video above so hopefully it works! After a few performances we left the booth (oops) and started to wander around.

Austria's booth

Everyone had such amazing food. That was the main attraction. The Netherlands had the best food with fried meatballs, aged cheese, and baby pancakes. France obviously made crepes and our friend JB wore a beret even though no one in France actually owns them.  A lot of people were dressed in their traditional outfits which was really cool to see! Hong Kong had great honey cracker sandwiches and little cookie crackers. Korea hired a restaurant to make rice cakes with a chili sauce. Turkey had an interesting story. They said there is a large population of Turkish people in Hong Kong and that they got help from these families to prepare grape leaves, stuffed peppers with rice, egg and spinach casserole stuff, turkish delight, delicious. Sweden had cookies and drinks from IKEA, beaded bracelets you could make, and these super long noodle things that you race to see who can eat it fastest without using their hands. Austria had crackers with this great spread they had made themselves. It was neat to hear about the different cultures, mainly about their food, especially from our friends who were excited to share.  Some places also had pictures or random information. The mainland China booth was giving out chinese poems they had written nicely.

All the countries after the Gala

The entire Gala was organized so nicely with very nice booths for each country, they supplied hot plates and fryers for people, and had a lovely introduction with some of the staff present. The theme was supposed to be childhood, but most people just focused on their country in general. I wore Taylor's First in Fitness t-shirt, jean shorts, my keds with purple socks, and my hair in pigtails. People said I looked like a kid which was what I was going for! The Gala was so much fun though and a great experience in getting to hear directly from our friends about their countries and customs.

Being a kid in front of the USA booth