Ten student associations participated in the event, including the Western Cricket Club, Indian Student’s Association, and the Southeast Asian Student Association. Each group shared their food and culture with other students.
This year, the new event was CricketMania, hosted by the Western Cricket Club. The purpose of the event was “to promote the game, which is less known here, but Americans have been participating since 1965,” said Karthik Balakrishna, Coordinator of International Student Activities and Secretary of the Western Cricket Club. “Western won the Michigan Cricket League in 2002, which was the first year they started it.”
Another new event this year was Brazilian day, where students sampled Brazilian cuisine and tried Brazilian dance forms including Samba, Forro, Axe, Frevo, Gaucho, and Funk.
About 15 international students from across Asia took part in the Southeast Asian Cuisines festival. They made a combination of Vietnamese, Indonesian, and Malaysian full course meals, including dessert. From Vietnamese Bun Thit Nuong to Indonesian Chicken Curry and Rice, there was great variety of international food for students to try.
At the end of the week, there was one event not hosted by an international group. “American Thanksgiving, because we want the international students to learn about American culture,” said Balakrishna.
The event helped students gain a greater understanding of other cultures and share traditions that they enjoy.
Posted by Samantha Macy