International students were given the platform to sing, dance and play music last Thursday in Albert Taylor Hall. Many different countries were represented including India, Korea, China and Paraguay.

“Well, what I love about it so much is that you come together and you bring different cultures into one room,” said JaWuan Wallace, graduate communication major. “And you bring the nations into one room and that doesn’t happen that often.”

Wallace performed a break dance number with two other Emporia State students. His favorite performance was the Korean Association’s fan dance.

“I think the event went fantastic. The performers were absolutely fantastic,” said Noble Orajiato, programmer for the International Culture Show for the Office of International Education (OIE) event and masters clinical counseling major. “My favorite performance was the Paraguayan duo. Since I play the trumpet, I love anything that has to do with instruments and you know, they played the violin and the cello and it was just music to my ears.”

The OIE has been doing the International Culture Show for years and this is not just an opportunity for the campus and the community to see the talent that ESU has when it comes to international students, but it’s also a way for the domestic students to show off their talents as well, according to Orajiato.

“Hey, it was a great turnout,” said Ayoub Sehlaoui, audience member and graduate chemistry major. “There’s so much diversity and it’s great that ESU shows all of that and they can take something away from that. It just shows how big our world is.”

Students should take away that there are international students who love to perform  who  are talented and that everyone loves to dance, sing and have a good time, according to Orajiato.

“The turnout was absolutely fantastic, but we wouldn’t have been able to do anything without the help from the workers at Albert Taylor Hall. They did a wonderful job with this show,” Orajiato said. “Students just continue to support the efforts that the international students put on and keep an eye out for the Office of International Education and their events throughout the semester.”

The OIE will be hosting International Education Week Nov. 14-18 and the International Tea Party will end that week off, according to Orajiato.