From China to Austria to Peru, WIS’ International Day, held on April 10, brought pieces of the world to the Academic Walkway. The voyage around the globe provided WIS students with the opportunity to highlight and learn about several cultures represented among the community.
Junior Victoria Pineda took the initiative to organize this event. Her inspiration came from WIS’ international community, which encouraged her to take pride in her culture. This drove her to want everyone else to have the opportunity to share their unique background.
“[My background] wasn’t something I would want to hide,” Pineda said. “It was something I could really be proud of. And I thought WIS was just missing a day where we could celebrate that just for [a] short amount of time [like this year], or [even] a whole day [in the future].”
The process to plan International Day was not necessarily simple. Between getting approval from the administration and the Student Life team, and considering the set-up and date with grades nine and 10 Assistant Principal Anne Leflot, a lot had to be done before establishing the final club-fair-style event.
“We really liked the idea of a club fair, where people could walk around and get a little taste of each stand, and people could do really whatever they felt [would] most [represent their] stand,” Pineda said.
During International Day, representing Tunisia, junior Farah Makni brought food, including “tagine,” dates and “harissa,” and artifacts, including designs of traditional clothing and her great-grandmother’s necklace from an Amazigh tribe. It is the connection between all these aspects of her culture that she deeply values.
“I really love how everything’s inspired by the ocean and how everything interconnects, all of our food, all of our designs,” Makni said.
When reflecting on the impact of this event, Makni emphasized the significance of being exposed to diverse cultures and backgrounds.
“I think it’s really important, because a lot of people don’t recognize certain cultures or don’t know details or unique attributes [of] different cultures,” Makni said. “I think it’s really interesting and fun and engaging to know more about each other and where we come from.”
A couple of stands further down the walkway, Middle and Upper School math teacher Xinwei Xue and freshman Leyao Wang showcased Chinese culture, with Xue’s section featuring traditional clothing.
“[I like the traditional Chinese clothing] because it looks really antique compared to temporary clothes,” Xue said. “It shows you a different character.”
Wang, who echoed similar ideas to Makni, believes that WIS needed exposure to a larger variety of cultures that can be found within the community.
“I feel like in this ‘International School,’ it’s mostly [representative of] Europe,” Wang said. “Even [though other cultures] are [represented], I think International Day is a better way to share and showcase all of it.”
Springsteen shared how the event served as a microcosm of the traditions and cultures from around the world.
“I think it’s for people who maybe don’t travel outside the country as much, they can get a little taste of everywhere while staying in the same place,” Springsteen said.
On a similar note, Kaufmann thinks that the event encouraged further international learning and awareness.
“You [learn] what they might eat, and you might learn something new,” Kaufmann said. “Maybe it gives you inspiration to go visit a country that you’ve never been to.”
Therefore, both of them do appreciate being among an international community that allowed for the opportunity to explore diverse cultures and backgrounds.
“It’s nice to sort of be a part of a community where you can just see a lot of other cultures,” Springsteen said.
As for senior Rebecca Matuschek and freshman Miles Fenkart, their stand explained traditional Austrian clothing, such as “dirndl” and “lederhosen,” and cuisine, including two desserts: “sachertorte” and “kaiserschmarrn.” Their objects were accompanied by a poster board on which they detailed numerous parts of the culture and included a fun quiz.
In Matuschek’s opinion, the best part of Austrian culture is the kindness of the people.
“You can obviously say [the] clothing, the food, the landscape, the city, but it’s really about the people,” Matuschek said. “When you meet those people, they have a blend of all of those elements. Plus, they’re very friendly.”
The two students met through International Day. Matuschek shared that she felt Austria lacked representation and didn’t know of other Austrians within the WIS community. Fenkart echoed her point, believing that this event was also beneficial at the individual level.
“You get a sense [that] you can understand the community, just like [how] I didn’t know Rebecca before this, and I especially didn’t know that there were any Austrians at this school,” Fenkart said. “I think also it allows you to explore the culture from another side of you.”
Similarly to Springsteen, Matuschek saw International Day as a way to visibly understand the extent of WIS’ internationalism.
“I always have thought [of] WIS [as] very international,” Matuschek said. “I think that having an event like this really brings it together, because then we can see how international we are, and see how many different people are from each nationality, and then sharing is very ‘WIS core.’”
For Pineda, she hopes this event becomes an established tradition that helps strengthen international-mindedness at WIS. By extending the scope of the event to include performances, she believes the growth of this tradition will promote wide-scale celebration and respect for diverse cultures. In the end, Pineda believes International Day gave the WIS community a platform to share diverse, unique stories.
“They’re just such different stories, and I think that’s what makes WIS so special,” Pineda said. “Every story is respected and celebrated. So I think the most important thing was to showcase this celebration of our differences.”
By Selena Said
