Different Cultures

Every week they have a different country that they designate for cultural week. Last week was Chinese week where they had many different events held on-campus during the week. Chinese students celebrate this week by showing other students what Chinese culture is all about by hosting events and activities. Each country makes their traditional food and serves it in the cafeteria for the week. I didn't get a chance to try and of the food in the cafeteria but I did get to write some calligraphy words in Chinese. My dorm also holds activities almost daily and since it was Chinese week they made some Chinese tofu and rice for everyone to try. Below is a couple of people from my program.
This week in Vietnamese week and I tried to food in the cafeteria today- it was a little weird but not too bad. There was a gooey corn soup with coconut sauce and a teriyaki like chicken that I tried. They also have performances during the middle of the week and bunch of different foods for people to try. This school is so diverse that there are so many different cultures and never ending cultural events.

This weekend was also the biggest international and cultural festival that APU (Asia Pacific University) hosts. It was all day Saturday and people have been planning for this day for weeks. Every floor preforms a little dance or skit in front of all the dorms during the day and whoever did the best wins a prize. They also have activities all day that people can participate in. Some were trying on traditional cultural clothes, learning languages, eating Hawaiian ice, and even a host party. Host and hostess parties are rooms full of good-looking people (either men or women) that normally sweet talk you into spending a lot of money at the bars.
The best part of the day is definitely the food though. They give you a booklet before the day starts with three different empty spaces for stamps. There are about a dozen different kinds of foods that are cooked on each floor by the students that you can try but you can only try three of them and then get your book stamped. At the end of all the taste testing, you receive a sticker where you place it under the food that you liked the most. I tried some Korean cabbage pancakes, Japanese egg rolls, and some flan which was all really good - the best was definitely the cabbage pancakes though. I asked for the recipe so I will probably be making that and kimchi pancakes (another type of spicy Korean cabbage) a lot when I return to America. Everyone wants you to try their foods so you will vote for them as the best food so they dress up and try to steer you to their tables. It was a pretty funny sight. Some of the guys dressed up as girls with make-up, short skirts and all (they seriously don't mind being feminine here) and some other people had animal costumes that they wore. Here is a picture of them all performing in front of everyone.
The World Festival is the biggest event on-campus every year and it was definitely a great thing to be a part of. I learned so much and tasted so many different dishes I've never even heard of. The next night a bunch of people went to an いざかや(izakaya) which is a traditional Japanese party with a lot of sake. I didn't feel well and was extremely tired so I skipped out on going and went to bed early instead.
On Sunday we were planning on going to Monkey Mountain- the place where there are monkeys that you can play with that is about an hour from campus- but the weather was terrible so we decided to stay in. A bunch of us worked on homework together instead and then I started classes back up on Monday.