International Week is an adventure on campus

Header image for Interrobang article CREDIT: MTSU.EDU
Take an adventure around the world – no plane ticket necessary – with Mosaic 2014, an international celebration on campus that runs from February 3 to 7.

Imagine a place where you can get a henna tattoo while you munch on some homemade Nigerian baked goods. You can learn origami from a guy who really knows his stuff, you can see art from India, China and Africa, and you can even attend a fashion show featuring threads from all around the world.

Mosaic 2014, Fanshawe's International Week that runs from February 3 to 7, is bringing the world to our campus so you can try all those things and more.

Three Corporate Communications and Public Relations students are hard at work planning the events, and each one is bringing a little of his or her own country into the mix. Lilian Moses, a student from Nigeria; Sabrina Li, a student from China; and Tony Chacko Varghese, a student from India have been planning the event for weeks, and all three were very excited to talk about the upcoming events.

Mosaic kicks off with the opening event in Forwell Hall at 9:30 a.m. on February 3. The same day, an international fashion show will bring a world of colour to B cafeteria from 6 to 8 p.m.

“For the fashion show, we have models who come from different countries wearing their own traditional creations,” Li said. “We also have some Fashion Merchandising students who are going to help us to design some paper clothes, so for those students who don't have their own traditional outfits, they can wear them.”

The show will be complete with top-notch hair and makeup and even a DJ spinning international beats. There will also be a dance performance during the show, performed by the International Dance Group. “He said they have something really superb for us,” Moses said.

A talent show in B caf on February 5 runs 6 to 8 p.m. and will feature singing, dancing and instruments from around the globe.

Dance your cares away at the DJ Party on February 6. It starts at 8 p.m. in The Out Back Shack. “We have different DJs coming to spin and show their stuff,” Moses said.

All week long, you can check out arts, crafts, snacks and more at the international trade show. It will take place in F hallway from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. on February 3, 4, 6 and 7; on February 5 it will be set up outside the International office in E2025 from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. Check it out for origami lessons, Arabic calligraphy and a henna artist, which Moses is especially looking forward to. “I will get [a henna tattoo] for myself — it's something I really want to try out,” she said with a smile.

The trade show will also include a bake sale, which Moses and her housemate are planning to contribute to. The proceeds from the bake sale will benefit an orphanage in India, which is run by a Fanshawe student's mother. “It was such a great connection,” said Faith Maudsley, who works in the International department. “I kept thinking [about how, through] six degrees of separation, I know someone with leprosy — I didn't even know it was still around.”

Keep your eyes open for sculptures and paintings popping up around campus, because art from around the world will be displayed all week long.

Sports fans also have a lot to look forward to throughout the week. On February 3, the games begin with cricket in the gyms from 3 to 6 p.m. The next day, hit a bank shot with billiards in the pool room behind the Biz Booth from 4 to 7 p.m. The games are afoot on February 6 with soccer, badminton and three-on-three basketball in J Gym from 12 to 6 p.m. Varghese said he's hoping lots of people come out to play.

The week draws to a close with the awards and closing celebration in the lobby outside the International office at 2 p.m. on February 7.

Embrace all our students have to offer. Take a trip around the world in our very own backyard with Mosaic 2014. For more information, check out Fanshawe's International office in E2025.