The oriental decorations with the colorful lights caught my attention when I entered the ballroom. The ballroom is transformed into an ancient and yet beautiful situate. It was Vietnamese Cultural Night on the 14th of November, 2009.
The event began with a trio-singing performance. Two ladies and one gentleman performed a traditional Vietnamese song to welcome all the guests. The performers then presented other dances in their traditional Vietnamese costumes. I am so glad that I had this opportunity to see these costumes, which are very similar to the traditional Chinese costumes. Besides the performances, I also enjoyed the ancient folktales told by the emcees about Vietnam.
I helped out as a volunteer in this event. I helped to serve the food to the guests. The food was so delicious that the guests return for second – and some third – rounds! Nothing reminds me more of my home with this Asian food.
The second half of the night was continued by the fashion show, the highlight of the night. More traditional clothes were presented by the elegant models. It was indeed an eye opener for me. I can’t stop myself from snapping so many photographs by the stage. The last performance was presented by the SCSU break dance team. As the youth in the world today is moving towards flexibility and extreme body movements, the Vietnamese too have adopted this new culture. The break dance performance was breath taking and it received a loud applause for the audience at the end.
In summary, I am grateful that God has brought to me some Vietnamese friends in the U.S. I never had taught of it myself that I would make any Vietnamese friends in my life! This cultural night is a very good way for me to learn about my friends’ cultural background and also listen to them speaking and singing in native language. I am also glad that I have contributed a little towards the success of this night. I am sure I will continue to attend other cultural nights to wider expend my intercultural experience.
More photos available on my Facebook.
