The International Reception: Celebrating our multi-cultural world
Saturday 24 October 2009 was United Nations Day, and Bristol had its own United Nations celebration at the International Reception held in Woodlands Church, commonly called Woodies!
About 450 guests attended and 53 nations were represented. The food was varied to suit all tastes and customs, and the entertainment superb. There was also this grey haired gentleman walking around in a white jacket and a red bow-tie. Was he selling ice cream or was he the head waiter?!
The jazz band was out of this world and they kept up a stream of traditional and modern jazz throughout the evening. The evening ended with ‘Amazing Grace’, a truly remarkable end to and amazing evening. I have never heard a jazz band play Amazing Grace before. I have heard it played on bagpipes though, but somehow the jazz version created gentleness deeply complimentary to this beautiful song.
Mingling around the reception and talking to a number of nationalities I was struck by the privilege of the BISC Team and other volunteers able to befriend international students at large. The love and friendliness of 50 odd nations represented at the International Reception was wonderful. The entertainment too was excellent, particularly the Chinese Lion Dancers and the Capoeira Dance Routine. The Chinese Lion was spectacular; I have never been so close to one before. It must have taken a lot of energy to be inside the Lion dancing away! Equally the energy and skill shown by the Capoeira Dance Routine was breathtaking. Perhaps if you wish to get fit and lose weight, join me and sign up for the Bristol University Chinese Lion Dance Society or the Capoeira Beribazu Bristol.
The BISC Team performed well, particularly in the animal game! I never heard so many animal accents before. The picture of the sheep was misleading. It could also be interpreted as a cow (moo) wearing a wig! I did notice that the BISC member behind the mask made a sound like bah humbug! It was more like Ebenezer Scrooge (read the blog for ‘A Taste of the UK’)! We must all thank the BISC team and other volunteers for their efforts and time organising the event with the minimum of disruption. In particular Jacqueline, Charl, Ruth, Ann, Phoebe, Dave and Xiaomei must take the most credit for the wonderful success of the evening.
Towards the end, that man in a white coat was with Ann saying good night in a number of languages, to the departing guests. Indeed John was complimented on his Spanish (adios amigo). However this is the only Spanish he knows! When the band was playing the last number, Ann, who had forgotten to take her pills, began dancing with a number of guests, particularly H from China. Yes it was all good fun, but the evening had a message as was evident from the Alpha video and Rob Scott-Cooke’s message (read more about this elsewhere on our website).
And the message from the BISC Team is this: Welcome to the whole world! Join us in all that we do. Make BISC your home away from home. Investigate new things, make new friends, share your own culture, learn about other cultures, practice your English, teach us your own language. There is so much to life in Bristol.
May we also take this opportunity to thank our two excellent photographers who captured the evening in all its brilliance! Thank you to professional photographer Dan Blueman and BISC photographer Daniel Benson. You have captured our memories of this evening in a truly superb way.
This is the Blogmaster now signing off and may you all have a rock and rolling time this week.
