Overview of the International Week




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  • 2013-02-14 16:08:35
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Once again the AUBG community praised diversity and cultural differences in a traditional 6-day-long celebration. The 16th annual International Week, organized by the Phi Beta Delta International Honor Committee, started with an opening cocktail reception at Balkanski Academic Center on Monday, Feb. 4. Country Presentations The "Country Presentations" event followed the reception and set the cheerful tone for the whole week, inviting students to present cultural peculiarities of their nations at BAC Auditorium. Informative power point presentations were balanced with staged scenes of national festivities and comical stand up performances. All in all, the audience learned a little bit about each country’s customs including Tajik traditional Navruz celebration, Dutch ethical codex and Turkmen wedding preparations. The performance of the Kazakh team became a decent culmination of the show, when their humorous depiction of cultural stereotypes set the audience laughing. The slightly informal style of the event created a light atmosphere, allowing both speakers and guests to make jokes and enjoy the presentations.  Some unexpected participants were revealed and dragged on the stage throughout the show. The American team had no idea of its involvement in the activity until two members were called out.  “We did not know who signed us up,” said Austin Ruff, an exchange student from the USA, “so we just decided to go with some ridiculous holidays, good we have plenty of them.” Cross-cultural Arts, Crafts and Dances Evening The excitement of the first day was forwarded to Tuesday's "Cross-cultural Arts, Crafts and Dance" activities, where visitors were encouraged to try out origami, knitting, embroidery and Mongolian script-writing. In addition, there were hair-braiding and scarf-tying stands available. The event brought together both students and faculty to share some interesting ideas and techniques. While Stoil Stoilov and Kristiyan Dimitrov hosted one of the busiest tables with origami art, Lynnette Leonard, Professor from the Arts, Languages and Literature department, was teaching girls scarf knitting. Those who were tired from handwork were also welcome to join the dancing instructors in the room next door. With some help and practice students were able to show their newly acquired skills in Albanian, Bulgarian or Mongolian national dances. The process was so joyful and catching that the staff of the academic center came and joined and danced with pleasure.   Talent Show The successful  Wednesday and Thursday events were marked by the "Diversity Challenge" and a Panel Discussion: “Work Ethics in Another Country.” Friday was marked by "AUBG's Got Talent" show. Each guest of the talent show was given a flower, in order  to throw it to the participant he or she liked most. The spectators were also expected to vote for their favorite contestants, marking their names on handed pieces of paper and throwing them into a special box. The votes were counted during the refreshment break, and, when the audience filled the Auditorium for the awarding ceremony, the winners were announced: Sergey Zhelezko, an  experienced  participant in the university talent shows, shared the fourth place with "Aмерикански цирк" (American  Circus), a group of exchange students from the USA. The third place went to  Nursultan Abdykasymov, who performed a couple of piano compositions. Second place was awarded to Aliya Kamaletdinova, a freshman from Tajikistan, who sang Alicia Key’s “If I Ain't Got You.” Beat boxer Nepes Nepesov, a first year student from Turkmenistan, was called the triumphant winner of the show. He has been beatboxing for almost two years, having gained his skills mostly from watching videos. Nepesov said that he had never participated in such kind of contests before and that he felt "EXCITED!" about taking the first place. Taste Fest "Taste Fest," the closing and brightest event of the International Week took place in MB Auditorium on Saturday, Feb. 9. Overall 23 teams representing 21 countries (USA and Bulgaria had 2 teams) offered characteristic dishes of each national cuisine. "We have never had that many cooking teams. We had up to 15 previous years, but not that many," Pavlina Pavlova, Coordinator of International Student Services, said, "and it was really difficult for finding kitchens for all participants but faculty and staff helped out." After everyone got the chance to taste food from various countries, the organizers gave certificates and gifts to the members of the represented countries and faculty and staff, who provided them with their kitchens. "We usually give certificates to each team who participates in the taste fest, but this time we decided to give as a gift the international cook book," Pavlova said, "It consists of the recipes from last year's taste fest." "I really enjoyed the "Taste Fest," because it's one of my favorite events at AUBG, where everybody gathers and has fun. Plus it's involving food, how can you not like it," Tinatin Machavariani, a third-year-student from Georgia, said. The award ceremony was followed by national dances from different countries. Some of the team members were wearing national costumes during the event. "I was impressed that almost each team brought a national costume. At least one person from each team was dressed in their national costume," Pavlova said. "It [International Week] started as a "Taste Fest" only 16 years ago. Then it turned into the International Week. [...] I think that this year the international week was the best, because each event was so well attended and I was on every event and I saw the crowds in the auditorium. I think it was really good," Pavlova concluded. [gallery link="file" order="DESC" columns="5" orderby="post_date"]