KDU World Traveller

On Wednesday 4th November, 2009, the students from the CIE programme held their second KDU World Traveller - it gives them the opportunity to practise English while sharing information about their own cultures with other students.

The booth representing Central Asia

Anita gives Leila a helping hand with her hair

Kairat plays the two-stringed dombra - he can even play Beethoven's "Fur Elise" on it!

You really missed a special moment if you weren't there to hear him sing and play.

Kairat, Chooi Nee and Anita in front of the Central Asia board

Close up of the lovely embroidery on Anita's dress, the designs of dress is called "yaka",the red colour means blood,yellow-sun,black-earth, the material of dress is called  "keteni".

Gold motifs on a burgundy velvet coat

Leila in traditional dress and hat

A closer look at Leila's outstanding hat

Laura enjoying baurzak,  a traditional Kazakh snack

Soroosh, Kalai, Anousha and Milad - Mission Complete!

The lovely Iranian food was kindly prepared by Soroosh's and Milad's mother.

Many students liked the "salad oloviye" which is made of potatos, eggs,  chicken and mayonnaise.

Thank you very much, Mrs Hassandarvish!

Anousha prepares a bowl of pistachios, watermelon and  sunflower seeds,  delicious nuts from Iran for the guests.

"Many of the students didn't know how to eat them! I told them they had to break open with their mouths the sunflower seeds while they could use their fingers to crack open the pistachios. The pistachios were the most popular but many thought both the watermelon and sunflower seeds were too salty," said Anousha.

The Iranian board

This beautiful table cloth, made from wool and silk,  comes from Kerman, Iran. Some wanted to know how much it cost. Answer? It's not as expensive as a hand-woven carpet from Kashan or Tabiriz. Those carpets can cost hundreds of dollars!

Khaled ( from Yemen ) on the left and Khaled ( from Palestine) on the rightin front of the Middle East board.

Also on the board, you can see the"Hata", Palestinian head scarf on the left and Saudi "shemag" on the right.

Siti and Sagal with prayer rugs in front

Khaled in Yemeni costume - it looks like a sarong from Malaysia!

Posing in front of the flag from Saudi Arabia - Sagal is wearing the abaya and it's the traditional dress for women in Saudi Arabia.  Ibrahim ( with the baseball cap ) is wearing the white thob, which is the common clothes for men across the Middle East.

Welcome to the South-East Asian board

from right to left ; Maikel from  Indonesia, Lorena of  the Philippines and Hann Meng from Malaysia.

Lorena from the Philippines is wearing the traditional Barong Tagalog in the Maria Clara style. ( She is a famous heroine in Filipino history. ) Lorena very kindly brought Leche Plan ( a delicious dessert made of milk, sugar and eggs) for us to sample.

Learning to do the Poco Poco from Maikel

What's Poco Poco? A popular dance and exercise which comes from Medan, in Sumatra,  Indonesia.

Abby, Nur Zatul and Hann Meng preparing Tebaloi ( sago snack from Sarawak, East Malaysia)

Laura and Youmei in beautiful Korean hanbok. The modern hanbok is made of silk but in the past,  ordinary Korean women wore hanboks made of ramie ( a type of grass made into fabric)

Winters and Sunny preparing the vegetables for bibimbap ( Korean mixed rice)

Hui Eun  is shocked we have to prepare so much food.

Hui Eun and Jun-il were kind enough to bring some nokcha ( green tea), rainbow ttoek and  other rice cakes for us!

Jun-il, Laura and Youme taking a break from setting up the booth to pose for the camera

Winter, Hyunjoo and Cecilia goofing off while preparing the vegetables

Hyunjoo gives full attention to the carrots

Hands off MY bibimbap!

Cecilia loves bibimbap! Unfortunately that one's not real.

Picture of desperation - when you're so hungry, you'll even eat the fake bibimbap.

Si Yeon, Jun-il's daughter, likes Chinese paper cuttings.

Youmei and Kiki show her how it's done.

Ciao, Ting Ting, Lei Hao and Xiao Long  working hard to keep the Chinese flag flying high

A Thai guest has questions about the Chinese display.

The Chinese booth

Thai students showing off what they learnt at the Chinese booth

            A beautiful  mosaic of colourful cultures and costumes

Thai guests prepare flower decorations: banana leaves are folded and assembled on a styrofoam base.

Candles, joss-sticks and flowers are placed on this little float before it's placed on the river

Thai students display proudly their Loi Krathong flower floats.