Ethan Swanson

An inviting buffet banquet, cultural songs and dances and an around-the- world fashion show were all part of International Night 2008. The event was held Nov. 9 in the Volstorff Ballroom and was hosted by the International Relations Club.

The few hours of presentation were the result of much planning and prep work. According to IRC club president David Karki, the food was prepared the previous day, the dancers had been practicing for two to three weeks and overall program planning started approximately two months earlier.

The wide array of cuisine gave attendees a taste of China, India, Nepal, Africa, Mexico, Philippines, South Korea, France and Native America.

The banquet received great reviews.

“Everything that I tried was good,” said senior political science major Doug Martin. “I liked it all, and I do think I tried it all.”

The performance portion of the program included dancing from Norway, Nepal, India and Pakistan, singing from China and Haiti, video shows from Africa and the Philippines and a fashion show featuring 10 different countries.

“I was fascinated with the different clothing,” said Nepalese graduate student Minakshi Pokharel, who represented the Terai region of Nepal in the fashion show.

“Overall I think it went very excellent,” said Karki. “We had good diversity in terms of events.”

“The language barrier didn’t matter,” said Kalpana Prajapati, a computer science graduate student from Nepal. The music and dance allowed for everyone to experience other cultures and traditions without having to understand the language.

“Each and everything was perfect in its own way,” Prajapati said.

For instance, the traditional Chinese song “Jasmine Flower” was sung by Qian Sha in her native tongue, but the lighting and background music both made it very nice, she said. The dancing had the crowd quite animated.

“It was very rocking; everybody was cheering,” Prajapati said.

“The dancers and all the performers were having fun, and it showed. I can’t wait until the next International Night.” Bloomington, Minn., native Martin said.

#1.882199:3140378500.jpg:International_Night_Peruvian_Woman_ES.jpg:Ruth Guillermo of Peru shows her native clothing during the Fashion Show portion of International Night 2008.:Ethan Swanson#1.882198:2785282375.jpg:International_night_Nepal_couple_ES.jpg:Barun Ranjitkar (left) and Manisha Shrestha (right) of Nepal dance the Taal ko paani (Water in the pond).:Ethan Swanson#1.882197:2872482942.jpg:International_Night_ES.jpg:Jyoti Joshi of Nepal dances the Bhamara phool ko rasaima (Bee taking nectar from the flower).:Ethan Swanson