By: Jing Zhao
On April 2, 2016, the Society of International Students (SIS) successfully held the UPEI Global Village and Gala Event . Saturday night, UPEI students  were encouraged to “discover and experience the world†at Macmillan Hall. There were students from many countries in attendance at this gala event, such as Burma, Caribbean, China, India, Japan, Mexico, Myanmar, Nigeria, Palestine, Saudi Arabia, Sri Lanka and so on.
All the represented countries went to the Macmillan Hall ahead of time and did an elaborative preparation for this special gala. They wanted to show their culture to the other students and friends.
When it came time for the actual event to start, the President of SIS, Hammad Ahmed gave a welcome speech to the audience. He also proclaimed SIS election results at 2016-2017. In the future, SIS will provide more activities for the international students to make their feel at home, and spread their cultures to different countries.
The international student advisor, Richelle Greathouse gave a speech to the entire student about diversity, and welcomed them to this gala event. Then, on the showing booths (scavenger hunt) around the world, different countries have shown their most special things for all students and friends. On Chinese booth, they show traditional Chinese art, the calligraphy, some delicious snacks, lucky couplets, and Chinese poems. On Saudi Arabia booth, there is a visual place, where welcomes friends to sit down and have a close view of their culture. They provide the traditional drinks and snack for others. There are also free henna designs for all the students to have a try.
After the separate introductions of each country, the performance began. The first one is the Lion dance, which represents Chinese culture. And the international students from Nigeria perform their special group dance. A singing band from Chinese Knot provides the beautiful Chinese music to the audience. All the performances are so special, which is novel and original for the audience.
On the Fashion show, international students from Mexico, Burma, China, Japan, Sir Lanka, and Nigeria all wear the clothes that represent their countries and cultures to the audience. From the Fashion show, the audience learned more about the traditional clothes from different countries, which they could not see in daily life.
After the Fashion show, there are the dances and songs, including a mass lesson in the Japanese traditional dance bon–odori. All the performances were well prepared by the international students. From this event, the audience was able to appreciate, and in some cases participate, in different global cultural activities. At the same time, this event provides a chance for all international students to make friends and know each other.
Hammad Ahmed shared his feelings on the Facebook, saying “despite our differences, all of us came together as one to share LOVE.†The Global Village is the place for all the international students to show their culture and spread love. Although there are differences between different countries, all students are at UPEI. At UPEI, they meet each other, which is the destiny that ties all of them together. They should cherish this opportunity for them to gather together from different countries and become friends.
If you want to know more detail about this gala event, you can on go Facebook Page: UPEI International Students to find more pictures and comments from this wonderful event.