Members of the MU community and the general public saw diverse cultures represented at the “Party Around the World” event held at the MU Student Center on Friday, Feb. 1. The party was sponsored by the Missouri International Student Council and offered an assortment of food and artwork.

Tina Tan, an international transfer student from China at MU, noted that she came to the event to look for her friends who were involved in the event. Her friends, who are also international transfer students, worked the food stations serving fried rice, falafel and various meats. Tan also said the event was crowded due to the public’s excitement regarding the food being served.

“The food all looks really good and I like how there is so much food from all cultures,” Tan said. “But I think it might be too good because it’s looking very popular. The line is really long and stretches around the whole event.”

Letitia Lou, also an international transfer student from Shanghai at MU, attended the event because she believes it’s important to support the international students on campus, being one herself. She did not assist in the organization of the event but appreciated getting to be a part of it. Lou also said she attended the event because it’s a rare and special occasion where all of the international students come together.

“This only happens around once a semester,” Lou said. “Other than that, we don’t usually all come together as one group, so I think a party like this is really significant.”

MU freshman Mahi Patel attended the event representing the South Asian Student Association. She assisted with the Indian culture table, providing crafts and offering insight into Indian traditions. Patel said the preparation consisted of getting artwork to represent Diwali, which is the Hindu festival of lights that marks the beginning of the fiscal year in India.

“We came an hour before the event started and prepared a ton of crafts for people to do,” Patel said. “All the crafts represent Southeast Asia. We have stamping with your fingers on a board that captures Indian culture and diya painting, which is for Diwali.”

Patel said the event was both a good opportunity to bond with Indian members of the MU community and an interesting way to let people learn about Southeast Asian culture. Patel also found the event successful due to the way the general public and MU community appreciated the wide array of content.

“I think the general public is really intrigued by the event because it’s so diversified,” Patel said. “Each table gives people background about their individual culture through art and food, so I think people are really interested to see everything.”

Similarly, Tan felt the diversity of the event made it exciting to observe and get involved with the different tables.

“I browsed the tables a little bit and I liked all the tables and how they showed their culture’s artwork,” Tan said. “I really liked India’s table because you got to paint interesting pieces.”

The event showcased countries such as Germany, Thailand, Bangladesh and China, offering each culture’s music videos, souvenirs, traditions and flags.

_Edited by Janae McKenzie | jmckenzie@themaneater.com_