World Festival!

Finally! The World Festival is over!
Every year, the Office of Student Affairs and the students cooperate to celebrate the World Festival in the school campus. Most of the students responsible for planning the event are overseas students like me, so I feel proud to see the event be such a success.
The World Festival started with opening performances, such as Flamenco Dance and Arabic Dance. Then, there was a Fashion Show where students wear traditional costumes from different countries while the hosts introduce the features of each costume. Right across the stage were food booths from different countries. Each year, overseas students gather and make the food they sell. It is a good opportunity to meet new people, as well as taste exotic food made by students. During the nighttime, there were musicians performing live, which is a perfect time for people to relax and enjoy foreign and aboriginal music.

Last year was the first time I participated in the festival. My friend who also came to Taiwan from Thailand asked me to help her out. It was hard work, since it was the first time for students from Thailand to have our own booth and we were unsure if people would like our food. Although we were all in doubt whether we could pull it off, we tried our best and made all the dishes beforehand to test the flavor. It sounds easier said than done, but we had to find a place with a kitchen to cook our food and lend us their cooking utensils. On top of that, some of the Thai ingredients were only purchasable in certain markets and groceries stores, so we had to carry the ingredients all the way from there. During the week of the actual event, each morning we had to wake up early and make the food and drinks we were going to sell that day. When it was time for us to sell the food, the heat and the crowd proved to be a complete chaos! We also had to run errands from time to time to exchange bills and coins, as well as buy extra straws and chopsticks. Nevertheless, I am very thankful to have the chance to participate in this cultural festival. I even got to wear a traditional Japanese costume and taste Japanese, Korean, Indonesian, Malaysian, Turkish, Macau, Hong Kong, and Moroccan (shout out to Joyce!) food. It's nice to see students work together to create such a wonderful event. I hope that next year's World Festival will be a great success as well! Although I won't be able to participate next year, but I wish that when I get back from France, I'll still be able to help out and have as much fun!