More than 160 different nationalities in just one school. How great would it be to bring them all together for one event where everyone can share something of their own culture? Well, that’s what City University did during “One World Week”. From Monday 2nd to Friday 6th of February, the university hosted a series of fun events aimed to the intercultural exchange and the presentation of foreign cultures.
Starting on Monday with the “International Food Day”, students could immediately throw themselves into a cheerful and somehow “exotic” atmosphere. The canteen was filled with colourful flags from all over the world and different kind of food were served as tastings of the most varied cuisines. On Tuesday, students were encouraged to team up and play a quiz based on their knowledge on City University, which was called “Scavenger Hunt”.
Students at City Bar on Thursday night at “The 20/20 Experience”
Wednesday brought a bit of the oriental culture into the campus with the typical Holi Colour Festival, where the participants had to throw colour powder at each other. Events of this kind are organised in many festivals in the whole planet, especially in summer manifestations, but their origins come from India, where the Holi Colour indicates the end of the winter and the beginning of the warmer season. Unfortunately, not a lot of people got carried away by the festive atmosphere and joined the event, probably because of the unpleasant weather of the early days of February in London. However, those who decided to bravely challenge the cold filled their new white T-Shirts (which were given for free by the Student Union team) with different shades of colours.
“I really enjoyed having the possibility to learn about the other cultures in my own university. The colour festival was a great way to get in contact with a pretty important event that happens in India that I’d have never imagined to experience”. said Gabriela Fernandez, a journalism student that took part to the manifestation.
The “Holi Colour Festival” at City University
Although there were some really positive feedback, others were a bit more critical. Maia Bondici, student who joined the Romanian night at City Bar, said: “I was really excited to go to the Romanian party on Wednesday, but when I got there I have to admit I was a bit disappointed.” The reason was that they separated the bar by putting a wall between the Romanians and all the other participants. “In the end, it was nice to see so many Romanian students at City, but I have to say that the first attempt of a party from the Romanian Society was a fail for me.”
As a final event, City Bar hosted the international bar night on Friday. An enjoyable and carefree way to close this special week dedicated to all the international students on campus. To draw an overall balance, it can be said that some aspects could have been organised better, but the original purpose, or rather to present different cultures and to gather all the nationalities of the school, was an amazing idea that has been appreciated by many students.