On Monday, Nov. 13, the Commons Ballroom was packed with people of all ages enjoying the food, cultural music and general excitement of the Taste of Culture Fair. The event celebrates International Education Week and spotlighted the cultures of countries from all over the world.

The room was filled with many international students manning tables that displayed items from their cultures. Some of the cultural artifacts included: Russian nesting dolls, Tetley Tea from England, kimonos from Japan and pictures of countries like Austria.

Many of the guests took the time to stop at each booth, ready with questions about the different countries.

“It’s fun to meet people from different countries and to learn about the different cultures,” said Shayan Shaikh, a junior international student from Pakistan studying electrical engineering at UNI.

Chloe Gooch, an exchange student from England, brought a slide show to demonstrate some of the things that represent her country, such as Buckingham Palace and the English flag. She is a senior studying early childhood education at UNI.

“I brought some tea bags from England — proper English breakfast tea — and I also brought English money, which people seem very fascinated about,” Gooch said.

Gooch was sharing a table with Rachel Smith, a Scottish exchange student who was representing her country. Smith is a junior studying business and marketing at UNI.

“I brought Tunnock’s chocolate and Cadburys,” Smith said. “The biggest difference between here and home would definitely be the tea and the food.”

Some of the other countries featured at the event include Australia, Austria, Bangladesh, China, Colombia, India, Japan, Mexico, Pakistan, Palestine, Russia and Saudi Arabia. There was even an Iowa booth for the benefit of the international students.

“We decided to have an Iowa booth at the Culture Fair because we have a lot of people from different countries, and this allows them to learn about the state that they’re in,” said Kimy Moothart, a communication disorders and Spanish double major at UNI.

The International Students and Scholars Office (ISSO) organized the event with the help of various sponsors.

The sponsors donated prizes for guests to win at the event, and some of these sponsors include Sidecar Coffee, Walmart and Domino’s, to name a few. The Office of International Programs and UNI’s Diversity Matters donated funds to the Taste of Culture Fair.

“The ISO organized the event and reached out to all international students and invited them to participate,” said Isabela Varela, director of the ISSO. “We had students from all the corners of the world promoting their country and culture. We had the Muslim Student Association [and] Study Abroad, and then we had representatives from the department of philosophy and world religions, who were wonderful because they had different items that represented different religions at their table.”

UNI students appeared to enjoy the food provided by UNI Catering, as evidenced by the consistently long line for the food table.

These foods represented some of the different cultures featured at the event and included: Pão do Queijo from Brazil, Kourabiedes from Greece, Spanikopita from the Eastern Mediterranean, tempura vegetables from Japan and roasted sweet potatoes with sauce from Nigeria.

There was also Papa Rellena from Peru, Patacones from Columbia, Pierogies and onions from Germany and Chai Tea from India.

The event featured international music, including Scottish bag pipes and cultural dances. Guests were also provided with paper passports, which they could take around to each table to get a stamp from the international students.

Many of the students wore their traditional outfits from their home countries to further demonstrate their culture.

“I really liked and took a lot of pictures of the outfits that people had from their countries,” Varela said. “They were just beautiful, and I think that this is really nice for the community to see because the only other time you can see this is on TV, unless you actually go to the countries.”

Some students were at the event with the purpose of educating guests about current social issues other cultures are experiencing.

“I think these types of events promote diversity and install inclusion on campus. It’s a boosting event for diversity on campus,” said Nadir Khan, a junior majoring in biology at UNI. “Here you can see lots of people, from lots of different countries representing themselves, and this helps educate other people and also allows them to liberate themselves.”

Khan was managing a table at the event for the Muslim Students Association in the hopes of educating people about the rise of Islamophobia.

“Basically, this table is here for anyone who wants to know more about Islam, as people are very interested to know what Islam is about,” Khan said.

The Taste of Culture Fair is a yearly event and, according to Varela, they are already starting to think about next year’s event.

“I think this is an important event because it connects the community to the university. Schools are invited, community members know about it and it’s publicized,” said Philip Plourde, the executive director of the Office of International Programs. “We like the community to come to our campus and to see some different cultures, and we like our international students to see the community. Also, through the event we highlight our international students’ talents and abilities. We want them to interact with people they normally wouldn’t interact with.”