Students serve coffee, tea and share cultural traditions

by COURTNEY L. BAILES
reporter

The smell of food and tea from China, Colombia, Japan, Saudi Arabia and many other countries filled the air on campus this weekend.

Experiencing many cultures was not hard Friday during the Coffee and Tea for a Peaceful Planet Celebration and Sunday at the Inter-national Festival.

Both celebrations gave people a chance to experience other cultures through food, drink and conversation, and displayed the many different cultures present at Marshall.

The Coffee and Tea Celebration gave people the opportunity to taste coffees and teas from nine countries. People were able to sample Colombian coffee, flower tea from China, green tea from Japan and other coffees and teas from around the world.

"I think it is neat being surrounded by all this culture," said Laura Waldorf, a junior in biology from Bloomingrose, W.Va.

Many Learning English for Academic Purposes (L.E.A.P.) students dressed in ethnic clothing and decorated their booths with artifacts from their countries. They displayed maps and pictures to help people learn more about the different countries.

During the celebration, L.E.A.P. students played music from different countries.

Sunday, the International Festival offered many tastes of different cultures in the Don Morris Room. Twenty-three countries participated in the 33rd annual festival, said Scott Hoppe, director of the International Students and Scholars Program.

"I just liked the excitement that everyone had with sharing their culture," said Sarah Cavendish, a senior in communications from Charleston.

Festival organizers offered fried rice and chicken curry from Thailand, almond cookies and broad beans from China, and other ethnic foods.

"I liked the potato salad from Russia," Cavendish said.

Booths were decorated with artifacts and pictures from different countries. Some international students were dressed in traditional clothing.

"This promotes understanding," Hoppe said. "There is no way to understand a culture unless you experience it."

Some students performed traditional dances and songs. Yuan Rong Jia, L.E.A.P. student from China, performed a Chinese modern dance titled "Xi'er." Other participants performed folk music from Russia and instrumental music from other countries.

"I think it went really well," Hoppe said. "I was really pleased with the turn out. We got a lot of community support."