Coleg Menai students hailing from every corner of the world teamed up recently to organise a 3-day Multicultural Festival, celebrating the vast range of cultures present within the college. There are over 60 nationalities represented at the college, and the main aim of the festival was to share cultures, and foster awareness and understanding amongst all students in the college. It also gave the students a chance to eliminate some of the mystery surrounding other cultures and nationalities.
There was a wide variety of events and displays throughout the college, including henna tattooing and Indian head massage; Arabic and Turkish coffee-tasting; name-printing in Japanese, Arabic and Chinese, and even a chopstick challenge! ESOL students worked hard on a multicultural exhibition which beautifully decorated the reception area and nearby corridors, and there was plenty of music throughout the festival with entertainment from local bands and college music students, and workshops for those who wanted to give it a go! There were also opportunities to take part in Zumba, Bollywood Burnout and Salsa dancing. Italian food was served in Cym 5, the coffee shop on Friars site, during Wednesday lunchtime, and there were several stalls dotted around the college offering a taste of foods from around the world.
ESOL manager Lyn Lording-Jones said: “The event was a great success, and it was wonderful to see students coming together to celebrate the college’s diversity and find out more about each other’s cultures. Students from very different cultural backgrounds, both local and international, welcomed the chance to enjoy a variety of events ranging from the Welsh harp and local Welsh bands to African drumming and Bollywood dancing! More than 200 students helped to make this a very memorable event.”
Dafydd Evans, Coleg Menai’s Principal said: “This is a very special event. We are very proud of the wide international community represented here at Coleg Menai. This global perspective and cultural exchange gives all students at the college the potential to appreciate diversity and develop a sense of the wider world and its issues.”
Coleg Menai offers a range of part-time and full-time ESOL qualifications and English language programmes for local, European and international students. For more information, visit the website www.menai.ac.uk/courses or contact the ESOL Centre on 01248 383347, e-mail: esol@menai.ac.uk or contact the International Centre on international@menai.ac.uk
Coleg Menai students hailing from every corner of the world teamed up recently....
