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International Week kick-off showcases cultural talents

International-week-kick-off-showcases-cultural-talents

Andrew Cheng

Diego Garcia-Montufar and Juan Victor Fajardo perform with the Mariachi Band at the International Show last Sunday.

In print | April 9, 2009

The International Club, known as i20 after the form that allows foreign students into the United States, kicked off International Week on April 5 with the annual Cultural Show in Upper Tarble. The show celebrated cultures from across the globe and featured performances by students, most of whom were internationals.

In order of appearance, Sergio Rivas ’10 remixed and sang pop hit “Uno y Uno Igual a Tres” by Venezuelan-Brit Jeremías; five members of the Capoeira group showcased an Afro-Brazilian blend of martial arts and dance; Ozan Erturk ’12 wove complex rhythmic patterns of Turkish drumming; Aakash Suchak ’11 read aloud his own South Asian poetry and that of a Swarthmore alum; Min Sern Teh ’12 shared Malaysian folk songs; Haichao Wu ’12 wrote a favorite poem from his childhood in Chinese calligraphy and explained its meaning; the Mariachi Band performed three songs with string instruments, brass and vocals; and Michael Park ’11, Daniel Hwang ’11, Steve Han ’11, Jun Seop Lee ’11 and Hae-in Park ’12 performed the Korean Stomp Nanta Dance.

The final performance was an impressive showcasing of Taekwondo by Taekwondo and Karate Club officers Philip Chodrow ’12 and Tom Liu ’12, as well as novices Frances Hunter ’12, Jenna Davis ’12 and Amy Langdon ’11. The novices — who will be testing for their yellow belts in three weeks — showed off their “first form,” while the officers jumped over audience participants to dramatically break boards held by other volunteers. Chodrow and Liu enthusiastically restarted the club at the beginning of this year, making this the Taekwondo and Karate Club’s first ever appearance at the Cultural Show.

“We got involved in this event because we’re really trying to get the word out about the club, and really trying to reach out to the campus. We thought it’d be a really great opportunity to show everyone what we’re doing,” Chodrow said.

“Also, beyond self-defense, martial arts is a way of life,” Liu said. “If you translate Taekwondo, Tae means ‘to strike or smash with the foot,’ kwon means ‘to strike or smash with the hand,’ and do means ‘as a way of life.’ You’re supposed to show etiquette in what you do, modesty, perseverance, self-control and indomitable spirit.”

This year, Adriana Popa ’12, the International Club’s public relations officer and the only first-generation Romanian student currently attending the college, hosted International Week’s Cultural Show. Popa also performed a set of personal narratives and a Romanian folksong during the event.
According to Popa, the purpose of the Cultural Show was to “start International Week with a ‘boom’ and to get people to actually participate and be interested in it.” Furthermore, the show was intended “to give people a chance to perform and show off their talents” as well as to “advertise the club a little bit, because there are a lot of people who don’t know what i20 is about, the people who are part of it, or the activities,” she said.

This year, International Week events will include various film screenings in the LPAC cinema, including “Sepet” from Malaysia, “Amores Perros” from Mexico, “Let the Right One In” from Sweden, “Yesterday,” from South Africa and a film from India that has yet to be determined. In addition, on Friday, April 10 from 4 to 6 p.m. there will be an international fair on Parrish walkway. The fair will include booths with cultural food and gifts and will be presided over by students wearing traditional cultural garb.

With close to 100 members from approximately 35 different nations, the International Club is the largest student group on campus. “I had experienced international environments before, but they weren’t as cohesive and as tight as i20 … I found them very supportive, very helpful, very friendly, very open, so it was natural for me to get involved, partially because I wanted to give something back,” Popa said about her experiences during the three-day international student orientation that precedes the regular freshman orientation.

“Personally, I became involved in the i20 because, as soon as I came, they were my first connection to the campus. Now, I’m hopefully going to have a stand at the fair [on Friday] for my own country, Romania.”