The International Bazaar to take place on Nov. 19
For one highly anticipated day a year, DePauw’s international community gathers to share knowledge, food and love for geographic difference.
The International Students Association (ISA) is bringing a fusion of cultures to DePauw this Sunday with the annual International Bazaar, which will mark the end of International Education Week.
The event features food, dancing and fashion from different countries all around the world. Encouraging diversity and inclusion, this event gives international students a platform to celebrate and expose others to their cultures.
“This event is very nice to have for international students to demonstrate their cultures to the campus because usually (international students) don’t have a lot of exposure and visibility in campus,” said ISA President, senior Sophia Lan. “We want to utilize this opportunity to demonstrate our cultures since, on a daily basis, you don’t get to talk about (them) a lot.”
The International Bazaar will kick off with the opportunity for domestic and international students to try dishes from countries including but not limited to China, Japan, Pakistan and Germany. All the dishes will be prepared by DePauw students or faculty and will be served buffet style with information about the dish’s name and contents, its country of origin, and the cook who prepared it, according to Lan.
First-year Masaya Sasaki is from Japan and will be attending the event, mainly because of the food. “I really like eating international food, and also I just like eating food in general, so I want to try all the international food there,” Sasaki said.
Lan is also excited about the food because it’s the only time she can “try maybe 20 different kinds of food from different countries in one meal… and you get a bite of it and get to see a scope of the country (it’s from).”
After people finish their meals, students will take to the stage with dancing and singing performances from their respective countries.
Sasaki is one of the performers who will be on stage Sunday night. He will be leading a group of 12 people who will participate in a traditional Japanese dance.
First-year Ahmad Qayyum is from Pakistan and will also be performing. He plans on singing a mash-up of Western and Eastern music. Qayyum chose this act because “music is a huge part of my culture in general, and music is a huge part of my life too,” he said. “Plus, I think the International Bazaar is a good platform for any international student to do anything like this.”
The event will close with a costume demonstration where international students bring their own traditional clothing that represents their home country, Lan said.
The International Bazaar will take place at 5:30 p.m. on Nov. 19 in the Union Building, and all members of the DePauw community are invited.
“Overall, it’s a fun event. It’s an opportunity for people to just have a look at a culture and think about it,” Lan said. “When you hear a song or try the food, it might give you a little taste of what the culture is about and how different it is from American culture.”