By Luke Lee ‘20
On Thursday, January 16th, St. Mark’s held its annual Cultural Fair in Taft, where students shared their own cultural backgrounds with the whole community through traditional food, games, holidays, as well as music. The Putnam Family Arts Center (PFAC) was filled with enthusiasm and joy that night, as students and faculties walked across different tables while holding food on plastic plates and asking questions about cultural traditions and holidays. Students set up traditional food, laptops, tri-fold boards, and fun activities for students to try. The purpose of the Cultural Fair is to celebrate the diversity of the community and feel a sense of pride in our cultures. It is also to have fun by learning more about different cultures and trying delicious traditional food, as well as playing traditional games.
Ms. Adams mentioned at the end of the Umoja ceremony that “18 different countries were represented in the Cultural Fair.” Living in a community like St. Mark’s sometimes can make us feel like we are living in a small bubble. All the flags of different countries in the Cultural Fair reminded us that we live in a diverse community.
On the right side of the entrance door in the PFAC was the table representing India. Anishka Yerabothu '20, Aditya Mynampaty '20, Kian Sahani '20, and Kartik Donepudi '21 offered Mango Lasi and Samosas, traditional Indian food, to people entering the Fair. They also dazzled students and faculties with their colorful traditional clothes, which were made out of silk. Kian Sahani '20, showed students how to write their names in Hindi. By looking at their names written in Hindi, students learned about letters in Hindi and how they are pronounced.
Other tables in the PFAC lobby represented Ukraine, Dominica and NAA, which stands for Native Americans Ancestry. Illia Rebechar '20 and Jane Dubrova '20 in the VI Form represented Ukraine. They gave out traditional Ukrainian candy while playing Ukrainian music on their speaker. On the table, there was the blue and yellow Ukranian flag as well as pictures of streets, cities, and monastery in Ukraine. On the Dominican table was Brillon Joseph '21. He offered cooked bananas to students and faculties. When asked if bananas are often cooked in Dominica, Brillon Joseph '21 responded, “Yes, cooked banana is a popular snack in Dominica. We eat it pretty often in our family.”
The last table in the lobby was the NAA (Native American Alliance). Graham Butterfield '21 played a video from Cut where Native Americans describe refugee camps as “prisons” to raise awareness about how Native Americans are left behind or neglected in our country. He mentioned, “I want to educate St. Mark’s more about pressing issues for Native Americans.”
The Cultural Fair was not just an opportunity to share different cultures but also to raise awareness for affinity groups. GSA had an activity in their table where students had to guess the name of the alliance flag just by looking at the flag. Afterwards, Anni Zhang '21 and Kendall Sommers '22 gave out the answers and explained what certain colors in flags represented. Anni mentioned, “We hope people can be more aware of the many alliance flags in the LGBT community through this activity.” The Christian Fellowship group had a poster board with quotes from the Bible and offered cookies to people, as they share cookies in every meeting.
The table representing China had fun activities, such as Chinese calligraphy and moving M&M’s with chopsticks. Students laughed as they struggled to copy a complicated Chinese character on the paper or use chopsticks. Richard Zhang '21 demonstrated how to write with a bush so that students and faculties could understand more about how to write in Chinese calligraphy. The Korean table had a traditional game called Gongi, a game where you have to throw plastic stones and catch them with the palm of your hand.
Tons of delicious food were at the Cultural Fair. Sam Wang '21 cooked hot pot on the Chinese table, a dish that has an assortment of vegetables, fish ball, and tofu in broth. The Nigerean table offered traditional rice and chicken dish which was flavored with Nigerean spices. Sierra Petties '20 represented the southern part of the U.S. and offered scoops of vanilla ice cream and apple pie. Chirs Lee '20, Ryan Paik '20, and Amy Kim '20 cooked a famous spicy and sweet dish called Rappoki, which is ramen noodles and rice cakes in a spicy sauce made of red peppers. Felicity Keyzer- Pollard '21 and Ewan Leslie '22 offered English breakfast tea and biscuits in representing Great Britain. Nancy Suriyaammaranon '20 made Coconut Jelly, a snack that she says is common in Thailand. She explained that the jelly was made out of coconut water and milk.
Overall, the Cultural Fair went successfully. Lots of people cheered and clapped when Ms. Lee asked the students and faculty at the end of the event: “Did you all enjoy the Cultural Fair tonight?” It was a great opportunity to celebrate our culture while learning the diverse cultural backgrounds of our peers.
