ISA's International Week and Night

Korrin B.

April 20, 2009 - 7:00 PM

I think next year I am going to have to join the International Student Association because it is just too cool. Earlier this year, I went with some friends to ISA's annual formal dance and had a good time. Last night, I went to ISA's annual International Night and it was incredible.

My friend, Caitlin, and I are both study abroad returnees who are now addicted to travel, want to see the entire world, and get restless from time to time with the everyday routine post studying abroad. Caitlin went to Australia and I to Greece. We decided to go to International Night in order to pretend for a moment in time that we were once again immersed in another country, far, far away, enjoying the excitement only available through international travel. Our plan worked better than expected.
The night started with food, our favorite. We followed a line of hungry attendees through tables of different kinds of food from around the world. My plate was soon piled high with foods I was dying to try from Japan, Indonesia, Russia, Thailand, Korea, China, and Hawaii. I devoured Thai curry, coconut rice, and Korean fried sweet potatoes. If not for anything else, I decided that it is imperative for me to continue my travels just so that I can eat my way through the world. Each food I sampled made me want to adventure through that land. I was in love and rightly so. As the International Night's menu cover stated through a quote from George Bernard Shaw, "There is no sincerer love than the love of food."

We leisurely finished our meal and then headed to the EMU Ballroom for the cultural performances. The entertainment went around the world with varying performances representing many different cultures. There was a bagpipe performance that made Caitlin and I want to go to Scotland. It was followed by an Irish folk band that increased my longing to be on the Emerald Isle. Samoan dancers slapped their bare chests as they danced aggressively. Traditional Japanese sword fighting was played out right there on the stage. Bollywood dance spread cheer throughout the audience as its brightly colored, intricate costumes put me in a trance toward India. Caitlin and I found ourselves endlessly inspired. The performances ended with a dance routine from the one and only UO Jam Squad. I thought it was a clever way of ISA to link our own region and culture into the global picture, even if it wasn't quite as romantic as watching traditional instruments from Southeast Asia fill the air.
After watching these amazing cultures grace the stage of the EMU Ballroom, it's final. I have to travel more. I'm thinking that I need a solid ten years of travel and unplanned wandering before I can settle down into a career. Although, I'm not too sure my parents would be entirely pleased with that. I mean, sure they would support the incredible experiences, but perhaps I should be paying off those student loans while I'm at it.

It was amazing being able to escape and travel the world for one night all within the confines of the UO campus. I've been talking with a friend I have that is a member of ISA and they've pretty much convinced me to join next year. I've been looking for something to get involved with on campus that I could really get into and be passionate about and I think I just might have found it.