Students get to travel globe while staying here

Kenya graduate student Shafreen Momin came to the International Expo to
see other cultures on display while India graduate student Sonya Sivam
wanted to taste the different foods.

About 450 people attended the International Expo Sunday in the Bovee
University Center Rotunda to experience the diversity CMU has to offer.

There were students representing 40 countries, displaying various
items such as food, clothing and photos for the public to view.

“I felt that it was very important for me to come here and represent
my country,” said Quan Wen, China graduate student.

The Indian booth was popular among visitors.

“It was my favorite, I liked all of the jewelry and artifacts that
they had on display,” Wen said.

Sivam said her home country was represented very well.

“The Indian booth had really nice displays and a lot to offer,” she
said.

CMU’s Office of Institutional Diversity and International Education
tried to top last year’s expo by slightly altering the event.

“The tables are much more interactive than last year,” said Tracy
Nakajima, International Club adviser and coordinator for international
students. “Students also broke out into spontaneous cultural dances,
which didn’t happen last year.”

Netherlands senior Ester Sleddens, who was working the Netherlands
table, said people were interested in what she had to offer.

“It is very nice to see others see your country and ask you
questions,” she said. “People were genuinely interested in my country,
and they really liked the wooden shoes that I had on display.”

A number of performances accenting other cultures were put on during
the event, including a Japanese martial arts demonstration, a
performance on a zither (Chinese string instrument) and Colombian,
Saudi Arabian and Kurdish dance routines.

Nakajima said the response has been great from American and
international students alike.

“We’ve been told that our table displays are very nice, and from the
international students’ view, they really enjoyed learning about other
cultures from around the world,” she said.

Wen said this event helped show how diverse CMU is.

“This has helped me to see that we are very multicultural here at
CMU, and this provides us an opportunity to meet very different people
outside of class,” she said.

China graduate student Zhigang Deng said the event offered him a
trip around the world for free.

“I can visit 40 countries in three hours,” he said.