Students VIBE to Asian culture
Daliang Wang performed his own martial arts showcase and later taught a class to students interested in learning the oriental art.
February 10, 2016
The Mercyhurst Multicultural Activity Council hosted the Vibe Asia event as part of its “vibe” event series to introduce the Mercyhurst community to Asian culture.
On Friday, Feb. 5, more than 100 students attended the event which went from 8 p.m. to 9:30 p.m. at the Great Room in Herrmann Union. Jonah Jackson and Ladorise Bedard-Webb, SAC event programmers, spent two months organizing and planning this event with the purpose of teaching people about different aspects of Asian culture .
“This is a multicultural activity event to highlight the different cultures on campus. This event is the extension of the vibe part, and it is something we want to do every semester,” Bedard-Webb said.
Vibe stands for variety, imagination, beauty and energy, and represent the four categories the event focused on. The team decorated the room with different Asian country flags which read “welcome” in their respective language. Among the activities was a Henna tattoo stand, a caricature corner, a Japanese fan decoration stand and various food options from Indian curry to Thai Satay.
“My favorite part of the event was definitely the food. Enjoying the food from different countries over Asia made me learn that all the countries in Asia are different,” said sophomore accounting major, Favour Ehidiamhen.
“I am also getting to know different people from the countries in this event.”
At 9 p.m., Daliang Wang, Ed.D., in Curriculum and Instruction, performed a martial arts demonstration and conducted a short class in the third floor of the Union.
Unfortunately for the students, the lantern festival was canceled due to a potential fire hazard on campus.
Although the organizing team did not have any Asians on the board, they interviewed friends from Vietnam, Thailand and citizens from other Asian countries to collect ideas and expectations. To many Asian students on campus, this event not only portrayed the culture, but also celebrated the diversity on campus. Jasmine V. Bajracharya from Nepal thought the event was authentic in many aspects of Asian culture.
“Seeing all the food and Henna tattoos made me feel like home,” Bajracharya said.
Indonesian senior Intelligence major, Dhedra Danudoro, enjoyed the event. However, he felt said that a major component of Asian culture was still missing.
“I think the curry is good, but I wish they had rice,” Danudoro said.
