International Festival
On Sunday, Oct. 8, Elm dining hall opened its doors for students to come and experience a glimpse of the diversity in Exeter. Vibrant colors of decorations at each booth and smells of Indian samosas and warm French beignets filled the building. Exeter is home to 92 international students hailing from 30 different countries. The annual International Festival provides an opportunity for students from different parts of the world to share their cultures and traditions with the community. The event aims to raise awareness of the different cultures and traditions of some of our fellow Exonians.
The Dominican Republic booth was filled with an array of cookies with tiny crosses in the center at the entrance. The cookies are customarily eaten with ground coffee, cafe Santo Domingo. The crosses exemplify the strong religious influence in D.R., as the booth’s organizers Lower Genesis Baez and Leah Delacruz informed students that “most Dominicans are Christian or Catholic.” D.R. is known for its love for plantains and coconuts, as well as dulce de leche and besitos de coco. Delacruz also introduced to students a special tourist attraction in D.R. called Punta Cana which has “a lot of hotels and beaches.” After learning about the traditions and cultures of Dominican Republic, Baez and Delacruz would ask each person to say, “Yo aprendi mucho de Republica Dominicana,” which means “I learned a lot about the Dominican Republic.”
Students with different ethnicities and cultures got to explore and present their roots during this big event.
The Japan table was especially alluring with its many decorations and delicious Kit Kats. Senior Anna Clark discussed how Japan has developed an array of unique flavors in these sweet treats, such as strawberry cheesecake, ginger carrot and green tea flavors. They also had Pocky sticks for people to munch on while they were appreciating the creative art of Origami. One of the organizers at the booth taught people how to fold a simple square piece of paper into a crane or a dragon. This creative and special activity is just one part of Japanese culture. Clark said that another aspect of the booth was the “decorations of cute characters and packagings with every item.” The booth did a good job showcasing Japan’s rich and vibrant culture with engaging activities and tasty snacks.
Ultimately winning best decorated, the Russian table displayed a collection of embellished books, ranging from classic Russian poems and folklore to a translation of Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet. A large pot full of pelmeni, the Russian version of dumplings, took center stage, with two huge mounds of candy completing the colourful arrangement. However, even this rich display could not hope to truly show the vastness and complexity of Russian culture. When asked to explain the culture, senior Lauren Maguire asked for more specificity. “It is a really big culture and I am very proud of it,” said Maguire. Maguire wore a loosely placed blue head scarf with a flowered design. “In the churches in Russia, if you are Russian orthodox, you have to wear a head cloth when you go into the church to be respectful,” Maguire said. Some visitors in front of the booth were jumping vigorously up and down, with their heels popping out here and there. “To get a passport stamp, people should do their rendition of Russian dancing,” Maguire said. Overall, the Russian booth, like Russian history, was colourful and energetic.
Returning and new students seem to share a similar joy and fascination of the festival every year. When they were not crowding around the different booths, students were stuffing their faces with desserts and other foods provided by the dining hall staff at Elm. “The pork dumplings and the fries with gravy were probably the best, personally,” said lower David Gonzalez. Upper Rose Martin had visited lots of booths and had tried almost all the food available. “The food that they have here today [are the ones that] I don’t usually get in Exeter, and now that they’re all here, I’m kind of overwhelmed, but I’m also really happy,” she said. Besides enriching their taste palettes, students broadened their horizons by learning interesting facts unique to each country, in hopes of getting a stamp for the passport book. “I learned a lot about Hong Kong; I learned that they use over three million bamboo poles for construction each year,” prep Nahla Owens said. She thought the use of a passport and the competition attached to it was a good idea to have people learn about the countries and their cultures.
The International festival has been a popular event among students at Phillips Exeter and members of the community alike. Students with different ethnicities and cultures got to explore and present their roots during this big event. They had planned the booths, decorations, and food long before the event occurred to make sure that it was an enriching experience for all. Whether the student was a representative of a certain country or just a visitor, everyone who attended the event had a wonderful time and looked forward to the festival in next year.