Last week, the Nepal Student Association celebrated Nepal Night. The event featured traditional Nepali food, fashion, music, dance, raas and several group activities.
Many people gathered at night. One of the attendees, Carson Krieger, a political science freshman, asked for food.
“It was great. It’s always nice to experience the cuisine of other cultures,” Krieger said.
According to the event’s Kahuto Quiz, one of the foods that will be served is called ‘Momo’, which is the most popular food in Nepal.
Aika Ota helped with the cooking and serving. She has combined Nepalese cuisine with her hometown culture of Japan.
“I’m from Japan, so I don’t know exactly about this culture, but sometimes I feel like it has something in common with Asian culture,” Ota said. “For example, dumplings are very similar to Japanese and Chinese ones.”
She also pointed out some of the differences between the two cultures.
“Because there are many Hindus in Nepal, we cannot eat beef, so we eat chicken instead of beef,” says Ota.
Nepali fashion was introduced at the beginning of the event, and Nepalese students dressed up and took the stage and posed for a few seconds. Their attire could also be seen during many of the night’s dances.
“I especially enjoyed the fashion shows. I appreciate fashion from different cultures and countries,” said Krieger.
The organizers also played a game called “Chungi” with some participants. This game is basically a single player hacky sack.
Krieger said one of the things he likes about Nepali fashion is its simplicity compared to other cultures.
“Well, our fashion may be flashier and use more materials, while Eastern fashion may be more conservative and tend to use one material throughout. Hmm,” said Krieger.
The music that night was mainly flute-based, but one song was sung in Nepali by a student.
The final activity of the evening was the Rat Mashindranath Jatra. Organizers said it was “nostalgic” for students from Nepal to build tanks for the event.
There was also a rakhi dance where people with large red masks and rakhi hair came out and danced violently. In Nepali culture, Rakhe is a fire demon who came from the forest but now protects the people of the town.
The Nepal Student Association is planning to hold Nepal Night next year as well, so please pay attention to the students who want to go.