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Caity Healy<\/strong> | Editor-in-Chief<\/span><\/p>\n For many students at Western, while Monmouth or the surrounding areas may be where they live, it isn\u2019t necessarily what they\u2019d call their \u201chome.\u201d And for some of these students, \u201chome\u201d is somewhere outside of the U.S. To give these students an opportunity to not only share a piece of their culture, but to give them a way to feel home away from home, Western hosted its 48th Annual International Night on May 10. <\/span><\/p>\n Before the festivities could begin, International Club had to put in work to make the event as extravagant as it was. <\/span><\/p>\n \u201c<\/span>My team, friends and club officers have helped so much in planning and getting things together for the event,\u201d said Berlyn Buncal, president of International Club. She also added that putting it on took \u201ca lot of work, coordination, communication and trust.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n When the doors opened at 5:30 p.m., the Pacific Room in the Werner University Center began filling with the faces of students, families and staff from all over, ready to experience a night packed with dances, songs and socializing. Welcome to a meal consisting of food from several different countries, the audience grabbed their plates, found a seat and waited for the performances to begin.<\/span><\/p>\n For those involved, this night meant a lot to them. It wasn\u2019t only a way for them to show what the club has been doing, but a way to feel connected to the places they call home.<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cInternational Night is a night where I get to learn about different cultures all parts of the world,\u201d said Buncal. \u201cIt is an important night to me because we all miss our home, I miss my home. I want to give a chance to all our friends and students a chance to experience home in some sort of way, and we do that with our foods, performances and fashion show.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n And from there, the show began. The audience was presented a show consisting of 10 different performances. Western\u2019s African Dance class performed a dance called the kpanlogo; student Zeya Gao sang a solo performance of \u201cCan\u2019t Take My Eyes Off of You\u201d; Jay Archer performed a violin piece he titled \u201cGhibli Songs\u201d; Ruijiaming Yang sang \u201cCan\u2019t Love You Enough,\u201d accompanied by Kenneth Soh on guitar; Hawai\u2019i Club performed a dance to \u201cLei Ho\u2019oheno\u201d; Binit Shrestha played guitar and sang \u201cKanchi Nani Blues\u201d; Yilei Zhao sang \u201cEternal Love\u201d; A group of four girls called Heart Dust performed an upbeat dance to \u201cKill This Love\u201d by Black Pink; Hermanos Del Valle performed a dance titled \u201cMarinera Norte\u00f1a; and to finish it off, Fili and Family danced in a performance titled \u201cSamoan Sivas.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n When the performances came to a close, the fashion show commenced. Strutting the stage donning the clothes of several different countries, the performers took to the stage in twos. Showing different examples of what each country\u2019s traditional clothing looks like, including the apparel of Mexico, China, Ethiopia, Germany, Japan and more, the models kept the audience in all smiles.<\/span><\/p>\n Finally, as this event fell on Mexico\u2019s Mother\u2019s Day, each mother in the audience was asked to stand. Then, those involved in the event delivered a rose to each standing audience member, a gift from the International Club.<\/span><\/p>\n At the end of the night, there was a closeness felt amongst many in the Pacific Room, even if they were strangers only hours ago. <\/span><\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/wou.edu\/westernhowl\/files\/2019\/05\/InternationalNight-1024x986.jpg\")
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