Day two of International Week got underway yesterday, offering music and food with a uniquely global flavor.
Salzburger Echo, providing a sample of Austrian sound in the “Music and Food Extravaganza,” was one of five bands selected to perform on the stage set up in the plaza behind the Union building.
Some observers wanted more, however.
One woman in the crowd screamed, “Take your clothes off!”
The band didn’t do that, but did play to an engaged crowd, clapping along to songs like, “Can’t Buy Beer On Sunday,” which the band also calls “the Provo Anthem.”
Along with smells, sights and sounds, the occasion allowed students to mingle with one another.
Katie Bedke, a second-year communication sciences and disorders student, found a seat in the damp grass under the sun and said she was pleasantly surprised to run into an old friend of hers, fellow communication sciences and disorders major, Ann Acosta.
Enjoying the weather and the smell of the available food, both said the event was “fun…very American.”
Sean McGuire, an architecture student, didn’t know what to make of the event.
“It’s funny music,” he said, then mentioned how he was finding it difficult to learn anything about the other cultures selected to be represented at the event.
“We wanted the event to be more inclusive than last year’s,” said April Heiselt, Associated Students of the University of Utah chairwoman of the Non-traditional Board.
Nearly 500 students showed up between 10:30 a.m. and 3 p.m., according to organizers.
Included in the setup of the event were numerous flags from countries both near and far, surrounding the plaza and International Week attendees. “We want to open [students’] minds to opportunities,” Heiselt mentioned.
Many students in attendance were there by chance, according to them, and hadn’t known previously to attending that the event was being held or what it entailed. Most of them, however, mentioned that they were enjoying themselves.