The Journal

Issue date: 10/5/06 Section: LifeStyle

Media Credit: Ashley Gieseking Sophomore international business major Thuy Trans participates in bamboo dancing at the Vietnamese Student Association Sept 29.

Students were exposed to food, clothing and traditional dance at Vietnamese Cultural Night.

"We really wanted (the event) to be an exchange of cultures," said graduate student Lam Nguyen, president of Vietnamese Student Association. "I think the more people understand about the Vietnamese culture, they can move on from thoughts of the Vietnam War."

Nguyen said many Americans know about Vietnam through the war and don't know about aspects of Vietnamese culture.

"The smell of (Vietnamese) food filled the room," said Alonzo Surrette, an international relations graduate student. "You could smell it as soon as you walked in. It just took me back to when I was in Vietnam."

Surrette said he traveled to Southeast Asia two years ago and traveled to Vietnam. He compared the smell of the food at the event to the smell of authentic Vietnamese food, not an American version of Vietnamese food.

A buffet of traditional food included spring rolls, chicken salad, a Vietnamese pork sandwich, fish sauce and bean sauce. The food was catered by two local Vietnamese restaurants, Mailee and Bread Number One.

"We decided as a group what foods we would have," Nguyen said. "We tried to pick foods that represented the Vietnamese culture and Americans would like."

The VSA demonstrated a game called the bamboo dance, a dance preformed by minority cultures in Vietnam. Nguyen said Vietnam has 54 ethnic groups. The Kinh make up 90 percent of the population, but there are many smaller groups.

The audience was challenged to try the bamboo dance, which can be described as hop scotch with a twist. People who could do the dance three consecutive times got a prize.

"It's called, 'Don't get your foot caught by the bamboo stick'," said Brittany Whitlow, a sophomore print journalism major, describing the dance. "I thought it was fun, but it is harder than it looks."

The event moved on from the dance game to an introduction to the Vietnamese language. The audience received a list of 12 common phrases and words that should be known in Vietnamese or any language. The list included numbers one through 10, "What's your name?"

Continued...

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