Lakeland Mirror

Issue date: 4/17/08 Section: Arts & Entertainment

Media Credit: August Kelm

Media Credit: August Kelm

Media Credit: August Kelm

Lakeland became a mirror for the world as students were introduced to cultures and languages from around the globe. From PowerPoint to dances, the audience was entertained. Each nation is defined by its customs, languages, and beliefs. GSA worked hard to bring the nations of the world to our little cornfield.

Swe Swe Htay (freshman) presented on Myanmar, formally Burma. She effectively engaged the audience by describing the food, clothing, and buildings of Myanmar. She also presented information on Buddhism, which is the faith of 89 percent of Myanmar. Htay also described the unique cosmetics of Myanmar including a thanaka, which is used like foundation in the western world.

Lien Tran (junior), Mayo Shimizu (junior), and Mai Isamoto (senior) performed native Vietnamese dances. The ribbon and fan dance are traditional sights at Vietnamese festivals, and are taught to school children.

Chrissie Chisamba (senior), Foster Magombo (senior), Ndamyo Mwanyongo (senior), Moses Madzedze (junior), Rabecca Makanga (junior), Nancy Mjumira (junior), Zephaniah Grevuloh (freshman), Mary Potani (freshman), Ireen Sichinga (freshman), Gloria Thom (freshman), and Beatrice Wawanya (freshman) presented on Malawi. The presentation started by singing the Malawian National Anthem. The students presented a PowerPoint on the basic facts of Malawi. The PowerPoint was followed by a live demonstration of native fashion, agricultural activities, baby handling, and the engagement ceremony. The students gave a detailed look at the daily chores of the Malawian women, including water gathering, hoeing, thrashing, and grinding. The Malawi students gave Lakeland a look into the history of their country as well as a cultural experience.

Li-Ting Huang (senior) and Rex Wu (freshman) gave a "How to write and speak Chinese" presentation. They discussed the characters, how complex words are formed out of the combining of existing characters, and how the characters reflect natural forms. There are over 6,500 characters in the simplified form. The lesson ended with a pronunciation demonstration using "Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star." The interplay between the two presenters kept the audience entertained despite the academic presentation.

Sul-Rang Woo (junior), Chang Sub-Yun (junior), Ryu-Kyung Won (junior), Hye-Jin Kim (junior), Bum-sik Kim (junior), Ji-Yoon Kang (junior), Semi Lee (junior), and Min-Kyung Jeon (senior) presented on South Korea. After the PowerPoint about the local fashion, food, and famous sites, they presented a traditional drum performance called the Samullori. The Samullori is performed with a small gong (samul of kkwaenggwari), a larger gong (jing), hourglass-shaped drums (janggo), and a regular drum (buk).

International Night got off to a rough start. The time of the convocation was written incorrectly in the handbook and the registrar was late with the convo cards. The GSA was forced into writing down the student ID numbers for about thirty minutes. The performance was forty minutes late starting to accommodate the people who went off the handbook time rather than the poster.

"Everyone worked hard to make International Night entertaining and informational, and I think it was a success despite the problems we had," said Jaime Wichman (sophomore), head of public relations for the GSA.

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