The students at Hancock’s Barkell Elementary School had an exciting exposure to flavors of Indian and Chinese culture. Graduate and undergraduate students of Michigan Tech’s Indian and Chinese community hosted a series of culture exchange sessions for the kids throughout the spring semester at the elementary school. April 11 marked the culmination of this series and was characterized by fun-filled activities that not only allowed the kids to learn a few more bits about the dominant cultural features of these two nations but also ensured an entertaining experience for the kids, as representatives from both organizations performed traditional dance, music and even handed out crafty souvenirs to the students including a fake passport containing facts about the two countries and a traditional Chinese wallet.
The event was a combined effort of International Programs and Services (IPS), the Indian Students Association (ISA) and the Chinese Students and Scholars Association (CSSA) of Michigan Tech. Each of the associations had representatives from their communities who showed the kids at the elementary school various aspects of their respective cultures including elements like arts, food, languages, geography and traditions among others.
The program was a series of monthly sessions that spanned over the current spring semester. The IPS aimed at allowing students to experience bits of international culture through this event and providing exposure to the cultural variations that characterize India and China’s general populace.
The final event last Wednesday was marked by an exciting display of popular dance and music forms for the kids to enjoy. Pranav, a dancer with the ISA and a graduate student at Tech, performed to some popular Bollywood songs, while Aseem sang some Hindi melodies to the young audience. The children were exhilarated, tapping to the rhythm and cheering on the performers with their gleeful waves and broad smiles. The Chinese students had also prepared some picturesque performances. A group of Chinese girls, all dressed in traditional attire and equipped with beautiful orange and yellow hand-fans, was a highlight of the event, as they performed the famous Fan Dance with sheer elegance to lilting, refreshing music. Later, one of the presenters played a traditional Chinese instrument called the “Erhu.” The Erhu is a two-stringed bowed musical instrument and is known as the “Chinese violin” in the Western World. The part that kids enjoyed the most, however, was a session with a Chinese calligrapher, as he asked for volunteers from the pumped audience. The kids were initially skeptical, but upon realizing that the volunteer actually got their names calligraphed in Chinese on authentic Chinese calligraphy rice papers, each one of the audience members craved that exotic piece of art. Not all were lucky, though, since there were limited papers available.
The principal of the school, Dr. Dan Vaara, had words of praise for the concept and execution of the event. He said, “It was a great learning experience for our kids. All of the presenters were amazing with how well they worked with the kids. All the material that the presenters used and all the lessons were really fun and it was comprehensive in a sense that it included all of the key elements required in introducing someone to a nation’s culture”. He also said that the children loved talking about the things they learned among themselves, the names of the cities they learned or some interesting food items that they discussed in the previous sessions. Dr. Dan also indicated how such events are an important part of a child’s upbringing. He explained, “This is something that kids at this age do not have a lot of exposure to, as much as we would like to have.” He was thankful to the IPS and the other student organizations for helping put this together and said that Wednesday marked a perfect ending to what was a great program and an awesome learning experience.
