Festival shows off diversity at MSU

---

Tweet

As drums were beaten and people crowded around to watch students engage in dance, the Union became a home for international culture.

More than 20 of MSU’s nationality clubs came together Sunday to host a Global Festival in the Union, giving visitors a guided tour into numerous foreign countries.

From an Indian booth where visitors could have henna designs painted on their hands, to a Chinese booth where there were lessons on calligraphy, the variety of cultures were everywhere.

Supply chain management senior Ke Ning was one of the students working the Chinese booth and said this was his fourth time attending the event.

Ning said one of the reasons he traveled from China to attend MSU was the diversity on campus.
“The Global Festival helps bring awareness,” he said.

“I don’t think (students) realize until this event how many cultures there are at MSU.”

This year, students had the opportunity to play Chinese chess and learn about the art of Chinese painting at the Chinese booth.

After hearing about the Global Festival at one of MSU’s weekly International Coffee Hour’s, Residential College in the Arts and Humanities and Chinese senior Elena Dunckel decided to attend the Global Festival for the first time.

Dunckel said she was happy to see a large number of young children at the event learning about a variety of cultures.

“I’m really excited that there are a lot of kids here so they can see people live in a lot of different ways,” she said. “It helps break down a lot of stereotypes and gets people excited about study abroad.”

Another booth at the Global Festival represented Thailand, where students could learn how to make a ribbon fish toy and have their picture taken with their face inside a cardboard cutout to make it look like they were wearing traditional Thai dress.

Attending the Global Festival for his third year, graduate student Kritsada Kittimanapun helped work Thailand’s booth.

Seeing children engaging with his culture was one of the things Kittimanapun said he enjoyed most about the Global Festival.

“We learn the culture, the traditions, the attractions — I think it’s fun,” he said.
“It feels like you’re traveling around the world.”

---