First Experience in such First Special Event

   

      International Culture Festival and Celebration was a big first event which was hosted by English Department of Widya Mandala Catholic University Surabaya. It was held on 8th of April 2016. By its name, people would know that it must involved International stuffs. Yup! It was special event that the English Department invited some representatives of many countries to present atleast a cultural sharing or another activities which had to be related with their country. It was such a big celebration because not only the representatives but they also invited hundred of high school students and some people to join and be the audiences. Even some journalists were there too. They were reporting this event because it was special and merry.

     We had invited a lot of countries to join the event, but only around 7 countries made it. Those countries were France, Belarus, China, Spain, Netherlands, German, and Indonesia. They had their own booth decorated according their own unique cultures. Those booth were so awesome, they provided a lot of things related to their cultures and also a lot of information about them. For example, in Netherlands' booth I was given some special Holland cheese which tasted different than other cheese I had ever tasted before. It was bitter yet still tasty. In Spain's booth I got to try the taste of bread dipped in an olive and classic oil. Those were their unique cultures and was new for me. I was so glad I got to know those that day as I had never known or got to tasted them before. The France's booth provided some information about cities in France and also a place in Indonesia where we can learn French. Not to forget, Indonesia, my country did also a very good job in serving " Pecel " ,a traditional javanese food.They were all giving us such wonderful new knowledges and information.

 

    

      It was actually such an honour for me because I was given an opportunity to be the MC in that wonderful event. It was my first time being an MC in front of hundreds of people and also representatives from a lot of countries. I was not alone, I had a partner with me which happened to be William from the 4th semester. I barely knew him. However, during the practices and briefings, we got along and finally built a great connection each other. To be honest, I was really nervous at the first. It was normal because everyone would get jittery on the stage until they got the comfort. Thankfully both I and him did well, we made jokes, entertained people and also tried as much as we could so that people would not get bored. I had a doubt if I did well at first. However, at the end of the event people came to me and gave me so many compliments saying that I did well and they enjoyed the whole event. I was so glad to know I did well and made them happy. It was such a good relief.

     Being the MC was really useful for me because it gave me a perfect chance to improve my English speaking and public speaking. Once the representatives were on the stage to present their cultural sharings, I got to interview them a bit. It was not only cultural sharing but they also hadsome other activities and games. The representatives from Spain performed a bit of Salsa dance. We were shown how to do a salsa dance and asked to dance with them which was really fun. Some games were also given by some countries such as German and Netherlands who gave some trivia quiz. Some of the students and audiences were lucky in answering the questions correctly and got some presents. I wish I could get one, but being one of the MCs was a special gift for me already. 

     Afterall, the event went smoothly wonderful. I was so glad I did well in my MC and also entertaining people. It was so great to know those representatives and also got to know the useful knowledges. Hopefully, next year, this kind of event will be bigger and have more countries and audience coming.