Monday, April 15, 2013

International Festival


I had a lot of fun on the International Festival Day – April 10. I came to the lobby in front of IT 225 one hour earlier with many things I brought from Vietnam and I found in Sandy’s office. Then Sandy, John (a Vietnamese student in MVCC) and I displayed these things on the table of Vietnam. We had many things about Vietnam: flag, map, money, fairy tale, handmade souvenirs, nón lá - palm-leaf conical hat, tiny boats, pictures and many different kinds of souvenirs.

A Thai student and then an American student came and sat near me. They wore nón lá and explained to visitors about the things on our table. It was so much fun. Many people said that they loved the things we displayed and asked to buy them, but we said we didn’t sell those things. Then they wanted to know where in Utica they could buy those things, especially nón lá. I was so happy to hear that and I was excited to talk about Vietnam.
 

One of the visitors, Mr. Sam – a middle aged Vietnamese student in MVCC, said that we had almost all symbols of Vietnam on our table. He also asked for taking pictures with the displaying table and me. Other visitors, including men and women, tried wearing nón lá and took photos.  They also asked about Vietnam’s capital, the location of Ho Chi Minh City, the language, the neighboring countries of Vietnam, and the leaves to make nón lá, etc… It was fun and I took a lot of pictures of them.
 

I also had a chance to go around and see other displaying tables of Japan, Spain, International Club… Aiko performed calligraphy in her Japanese table. It was very interesting. I saw many flags and pictures of people from different countries on the walls. Two other people and I were introduced as honored guests and I was asked to sing a Vietnamese song. I knew that I didn’t sing well and people must have suffered a lot from my singing J.
 

1 comment:

  1. I'm sure your singing was lovely! It's very brave to sing in front of people you don't know well.

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