Attendees of the cultural fair pose for a photo.
Courtesy | Caué Basso
The Hillsdale International Club showed Hillsdale College the world at its annual cultural fair on March 23.
Students presented tables on Brazil, Canada, China, Germany, Haiti, Ireland, Japan, Kenya, the Netherlands, Poland, South Korea, Taiwan, and Vietnam.
“This is a tradition of the International Club that we have every spring semester,” sophomore and International Club president Caué Basso said. “The main goal is to showcase all the different cultures and countries we have here on campus, because although the international student population is small, we still have several countries represented.”
The tables included posters, pictures, and food that described important characteristics of the country’s culture. The Korean table included a traditional Korean children’s game called Ddakji in its display. The game is played with a specially folded piece of paper placed on the floor. Each player then throws another folded piece of paper at the one on the floor in an attempt to flip it over.
“I decided to have this game here because not only do Koreans know about this but now a lot of foreigners do also because the game was played in ‘Squid Game.’ So, I feel like it’s cool to let a lot of people try it in person,” freshman Alex Cho said.
According to Basso, the fair provides students with international backgrounds the opportunity to talk about their country and culture.
“It is the opportunity we have once a year to talk about our countries and to show people our culture and our traditions because the world is much bigger than the United States,” Basso said.
Basso said that when the International Club plans the event, they hope to get as many international students involved as possible.
“We have board meetings to organize everything and then we reach out to all the international students asking if they can do the table for their countries,” Basso said. “We highlight the importance of representing their countries because not enough people are aware of how things are in the rest of the world. I am from Brazil and there are people who think that in Brazil we speak Spanish, which is absurd.”
Basso said students do not have to be from another country to participate.
“You don’t have to be an international student to be involved. Most students doing things here are not from another country but they have some international background,” Basso said. “Their parents might be from somewhere in Asia or Europe or if they lived in another country for some time.”
Sophomore attendee Emily Schutte said the club brings an important awareness of the world to Hillsdale.
“In America we are such a conglomeration of peoples and so sometimes we forget about our heritage,” Schutte said.
Sophomore International Club treasurer Ashlyn Linton said the club not only highlights the cultures that make up Hillsdale but provides a welcoming environment for international students.
“When I came here, I was immediately welcomed by International Club with a welcome basket that was delivered to my room. So I had sheets and I had other essentials,” Linton said. “There was also a card in the basket that hooked me up with a host family. If I ever needed any help, I could go to them.”
But the International Club helps international students acclimate beyond welcome packages.
“International Club does some really cool things. We help international students get visas and help them get social security numbers if they need to work in America,” Linton said. “We also have speakers come in throughout the year and several fun events like today to share different cultures with the school.”
Basso said the amount of international students on campus has been increasing, and he hopes the International Club will grow as well.
“Two years ago we had eight new freshmen that were international,” Basso said. “Last year we had 15. So this year we should have even more than 15. It’s increasing every year.”
