A taste of the world heats up the tastebuds at international show

By Jerome le Carrou

April 4, 2005 | From spicy curry to heavenly "Nian Gao" dessert to a sampling of cultures, the International Student Council Annual Banquet gave USU students a taste of the world Saturay night.

The banquet took place within a muffled atmosphere under the jazzy notes of pianist Aram Arakelyan.

"The cultural show was impressive, especially the African dance, and the food was delicious but a bit spicy compared to what I am used to," said Andreas Sjoberg, a student from Sweden.

The evening begun at 5.30 p.m, and after the presentation of certificates of recognition by the ISC president, Youssef Filali, helped by Mr and Mrs International, the food was ready to be eaten.

Diversity was the key-word to characterize this original menu. People had the choice between a French salad, a spicy vegetarian meal from Sri Lanka, and a dish from Haiti with rice and red beans.

The entrees menu was also very diverse -- garlic chicken from China, chicken curry from India, or a dish made of codfish, potatoes, eggs and spices from Angola named "Bacalhao a gowes de sa."

The dessert from China, named "Nian Gao" was a mouth-watering experience as its gummy texture was unusual.

Among the guests were a lot of international students from all over the world, but also Americans curious to discover new cultures and make friends.

A lot of people were dressed up in the original clothes they wear in their country. Pakistan, Bangladesh, China, Japan, India were mainly represented.

Just before the beginning of the cultural show, Professor Basudeh Biswas delivered a welcome speech, insisting on the importance of the event as a chance to meet new cultures.

The cultural show begun around 7 p.m and was hosted by two students from Ghana and the United States.

"This is probably one of the best show we have ever had," said Filali.

During one hour, the show, named "East meets West," tried to bring people from Africa to China through France, Mexico, Armenia, Malaysia, Nepal, India, and Japan and a lot more.

"We tried to have a little performance from every country," said Filali.

The show begun with a breathe-taking African dance under the drummers beats.

The dream of bringing together the West and the East became then obvious when Utah guitarist Todd Milovich joined by Indian Shyam Kumar and Amy Nguyen played together an Amra-Indian fusion song.

The Eastern tones of Kumar’s voice accompanied by the folk guitar rhythm of Milovich was a successful example of two different cultures brought together.

An entrancing dance from Malaysia followed by a graceful Chinese provincial dance by Becky Chiu and a sensual dance called " Me Libere" from Mexico, were a proof of the desire by the ISC to help people discover different traditional dances.

The next performance by Mallela and Datar was a real moment of pleasure as the two dancers seemed to come straight out of a Bollywood movie with all the charisma it implies.

For those who had missed the show Jacques Brel is Alive and Well and Living in Paris, a couple of weeks ago at Utah State, the banquet’s guests had the opportunity to see and appreciate three performances from the show.

Finally all the performers came out on the stage with a few children and sang If We Only Have Love.

The world is small would say some guests, small as the Ballroom. Time had come for the guests to live a place where it has been made possible to share a meal with so much different people.

"Above all nations is humanity" was the motto of the night where you could see American children leaving the university while singing an Indian song.

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