The Internationale: Global Festival Day at SMC

Last Thursday the quad came alive with the flags, sounds and tastes of SMC’s international community at the Global Festival Day. Amid the gentle winds of an emerging winter, Santa Monica College celebrated its place as a campus renowned for its diverse, international character.

Flags of nations as diverse Saudi Arabia, Ecuador, Turkey and South Africa fluttered as in nearby tents, various SMC organizations handed out candy, small snacks and other foods from distant lands. Students grabbed the treats, their wrappers marked in the languages of Europe and that rising Middle Kingdom, China. Among the clubs and organizations present were the UNICEF Club, Global Council, Celebrate China, ISF Club, ESL, and the Modern Languages & Cultures Club.

That campus eatery of renown, Eat Street, was also present and handed out free, international foods such as beef sopes, spring rolls, Cuban sandwiches, hummus with pita bread, and Aryan Turkish yogurt beverages. Other tables featured literature and writings from international writers from Latin America and elsewhere.

The festival featured live music from around the world, including Mexican folk dancers who set the scene ablaze with skirts that moved in dazzling twirls to the sounds of our southern neighbor.

It was a moment on campus when national borders were erased, states became invisible, and students joined in a melding of ethnicities and languages that provided a glimpse of a true, internationalist future.