International Week is an annual celebration for Iowa State’s diversity hosted by the International Student Council. This year’s international week featured five nights of events.

These events included a world cuisine fair, an international dance night, an international game night, bazaar night and an international night. All of these events allowed international students at Iowa State to bring their diverse cultures to campus in a number of ways.

Here are a few of the events of the week:

International Game Night

During the International Game Night, students were able to learn and play a variety of board and card games from different countries.

Each of the games included instructions on how to play and background information on the games. Some games also included history and facts about the games. For instance, the Chinese Checkers table’s sheet included the fact that the game was not originally from China and originated in Germany.

Yong Yi Lim, a junior in electrical engineering, enjoyed the social aspect of the event and being able to meet people outside of his major.

“For me, it’s more [of] a socializing experience,” Lim said. “It’s not about the games, it’s more about how you socialize with other people.”

Bazaar night

Bazaar night was put on by the International Students Council to “showcase golden eras of different countries to make it a fun way for students to experience different countries,” said Gwow Thiratrakoolchai, a student member of the council.

The objective of the Council is to enhance communication between Iowa State, Ames and the International Community, according to the International Students Council.

The event had clothing displays to portray the differences in fashion norms across the world. They also had games and food from different countries, as well as a photobooth.

“In the U.S. people are probably only familiar with things concerning the US, not other places in the world,” Thiratrakoolchai said. “So instead of having to go to all those countries, we have them here for them already.”

International Night

International Week ended with a finale of color, dance, song and food Friday night.

Held in the Great Hall of the Memorial Union, International Night attracted families and students alike to witness the array of events displaying the diverse cultures represented at Iowa State.

The night included various performances from international student organizations, including the ISC Kpop dance club, Russian Club and the Bhangra Dance Club, among others.

Various games were played to test the audience’s knowledge of the cultures being showcased, including Who Wants to Be a Winner, in which select audience members were chosen to take the stage and answer trivia questions to win prizes.

A more inclusive, audience-wide game of Kahoot took place during the event, asking similar trivia questions related to international customs, symbols and words.

Students also donned clothing from their respective countries to showcase during the international fashion show. Represented countries included Indonesia, Malaysia, Somalia, Thailand, Pakistan, Vietnam, Hmong, Jordan and Russia.

Attendees got a taste of a few different cultures from the complimentary dinner, which included Thai Drunken Noodles, Egyptian Koshari, chickpea salad and fried onions.