The Rocky Mountain Collegian

This weekend, Saint Louis University's International Banquet drew a crowd of more than 500 people to the Busch Student Center to celebrate the diversity of cultures on SLU's campus. Junior Darren Pais, president of the International Student Federation, was pleased with the night's outcome. "Our capacity is 480, so we had people who were standing; we had tables with nine people at them instead of eight." Some spectators, Pais said, skipped the food and came to the standing-room-only event just to see the performances. "We really filled up this time."The group has been planning the event since early last semester, Pais said. This year, the international buffet featured ethnic food from four local restaurants: India's Kitchen, Sameem's Afghan Restaurant, King and I Thai Cuisine and BARcelona Restaurant. Along with the enticing and sometimes spicy cuisine, the banquet boasted performances by both student and professional groups, complete with spectacular costumes and entrancing music. "Last year we tried to hit every continent, but this year we tried to find the liveliest acts we could get," Pais said.Sophomore Jaya Badhwar performed bharatanatyam, a classical Indian dance known for its spirituality, unique facial expressions and statue-like poses. "She did it on very short notice," Pais said. "It was a unique performance, from a unique student." The night also saw a dance performed by the Filipino Student Association, a Parade of Nations, a mariachi song by SLU senior Rene Hinojosa, a salsa-dancing couple, several belly dancers and a fashion show, in which ISF members each flaunted the attire of specific countries. "Certain performances have been pretty static, like the Taiko drummers-they're a favorite," Pais said. The St. Louis Osuwa Taiko Drummers, who also ended the evening last year, whipped up the audience with a frenzy of beating drums-the graceful, exact motions of the drummers nearly as mesmerizing as their pulsing rhythm."It's worth it, because I think most people-most students who are in ISF-not only love to share what is dear to them culturally but also want to see what others have to share. It's that sharing that motivates people," Pais said. Although ISF focuses on welcoming foreign students to SLU, non-foreign students are important to the group. "About half our members are American students," Pais said, emphasizing that they are an important element of the organization, providing a base of students with knowledge of the city and connections in St. Louis. "We love the American students," Pais said.ISF has two goals, according to Pais, one of which is "to cater to the needs of the international students, whether they be social, academic or otherwise." This includes anything from picking up international students at the airport and taking them on tours of the city to simply making new students feel comfortable and welcomed. Pais said that the group's second goal is "to bring our diverse cultures and backgrounds of all our members and just show it off to SLU at all our events - The banquet draws on some of this in a very interesting fashion, through food and entertainment.""It's a big organization, with subgroups and lots of opportunities. It's very dynamic-a lot of different kinds of people, a lot of different opinions-and it's open to anyone and everyone, really," Pais said.

Article Tools