Though all of my friends were stressing out and scrambling to organize this event, I was just enjoying their amazing work - shoutout to all the amazing students and staff that made this event happen.
This Saturday was the 57th annual International Fair!
There were 9 desks in the morning presenting different regions; Western Europe, Eastern Europe, Japan, Southeast Asia, China, etc. Students brought games, snacks, and items that represented their cultures and eagerly shared them with the visitors! Some dressed up in their national wear, and all played music from back home. My favorite part of the day was jamming out to my favorite Balkan songs with my friends, and finally getting some snacks from back home.
The best part of the fair after the snacks were the fake passports (yes, I am a child). Every stand had a stamp, and you could collect them in the passport you got when entering! In the end, you come back with your passport and get as many tickets as you have stamps, in order to enter a raffle.
It was fun to not only share my culture and teach others about it but to learn about all the other ones! At Africa's table, I learned that before colonization, the people used seashells instead of money to trade.
After the fair ended at 13:30, we went to the Chapel for a 2-hour performance of all sorts of songs and dances prepared by our lovely community. I was sitting in the audience like a proud mom enjoying what they spent so long preparing. What I loved most was seeing those from the regions of the dances along with people from all other places including the USA participating in the dances, knowing they were learning about other cultures and enjoying them.
That's what culture is about! Appreciation, and understanding. It doesn't mean one is appropriating a culture if they are appreciating it. Most of us want to share our culture with the world and let people see its beauty. There is so much variety across all the places we come from, and we should show it off proudly, and invite others to experience it for themselves.
I hope you come to the next international fair because it was amazing!
Also, here is a few videos that give you a glimpse of the atmosphere :)
