International Night

Last Saturday evening, a local college hosted a Community International Night event, now in it's tenth year. The two colleges in our town alternate in hosting it. This year, it was at the community college.

International Night is a time for folks of various nationalities to come together in a spirit of tolerance and comraderie. The event is a free potluck dinner that features entertainment by local school children and foreign students attending the colleges.

It's fun to sample the variety of ethnic potluck dishes....Chinese, Mexican, Bosnian, Indian, Irish, Scottish, Welsh, and others. Our contribution was the chili left over from our gathering at my son's house earlier in the day. We had just enough time after returning home to re-heat it, put it in a Crockpot, and whisk it, with a fresh bag of Fritos and shredded cheese down to the college. It was a hit among the youngsters attending, who wouldn't dream of sampling anything they aren't familiar with.

The event included a parade of flags of all nations, followed by entertainment. A petite Japanese girl wowed the crowd with a song sung in a soft, sweet voice. She sang in her native tongue, so we couldn't understand the words, but her voice was so lovely that it didn't matter.

A choir of schoolchildren warmed our hearts with a couple of songs, including one called "Zum Gali Gali." I looked that one up on the Internet, and found that an exact translation is hard to come by. One site says a best guess is that it means "To Galilee", a refrain sung by Zionist pioneers in Palistine before it was Israel.

A group of older elementary school girls, in colorful flouncy skirts, performed a Mexican dance.

One of the college students led us in a routine, spoken in Bosnian. She asked us all to stand up, follow her motions and repeat the words after her...in Bosnian. It was hilarious to hear us attempt that language. Of course, we thought she was making a serious statement, until she translated for us: (huge motion with the arms, representing something round): Big Watermelon;(hands clasped together, and slashing motion downward) Cut in Half; (hands clasped together, and slashing slideways) Cut in Quarters; (hands reaching out) Some for You; (hands toward yourself) Some for Me. Repeat "Some for You;" "Some for Me;" (stomp the ground) Don't Touch My Watermelon; (kicking motion), Or I Kick You.

After that, students of various nationalities led us in the routine in their own native languages, and we all struggled, in comical gibberish, to repeat the words in Spanish, French, Japanese, etc.

It was, as usual, a fun and interesting event that, hopefully, helped promote tolerance for the many nationalities who live and work in our community.