CULTURAL KALEIDOSCOPE
International Festival brings a world of food, arts and crafts to UNM
Some served kebapche beef, filled cups with sweet mango lassi and introduced a new audience to patbingsu — a Korean shaved ice adorned with toppings, such as bean paste, bananas and condensed milk.
Others performed flamenco or a Chinese dragon dance.
Dozens of student and community groups helped turn the University of New Mexico’s Cornell Mall into a cultural kaleidoscope on Thursday as part of the school’s annual International Festival.
They represented countries such as Bulgaria, India, South Korea and Paraguay and offered everything from food and crafts to lessons about life thousands of miles away. The campus’ Filipino student group, for example, sold lumpia (eggrolls) but also distributed fliers titled “10 Fun Facts About the Philippines.” (Example: “The Philippines is the world’s largest supplier of nurses, supplying roughly 25 percent of all overseas nurses
worldwide.”)
UNM has about 1,300 foreign students on campus. When including visiting scholars, there are 104 different countries represented at the state’s largest university, according to Nicole Tami, UNM’s executive director of global education initiatives.
“I don’t think most folks on this campus or in Albuquerque realize how broad (the representation) is,” said Tami, who called the festival “a celebration” of that diversity.
International student interest has waned somewhat over the last year, she said, something she attributes to multiple factors. That includes increasing competition for students from for-profit providers; educational investments by countries such as China meant to keep their students at home; and a geopolitical climate that has left many foreign students unsure how America will receive them.
“The messages (they hear) are confusing, and the messages are not always friendly,” Tami said.
But Namrata Nepal, who hails from Nepal and is working on her master’s degree in information systems and assurance from the Anderson School of Management, called UNM “one of the best universities for international students.”
While selling goodies like malpua — a deep-fried, coconut-filled pancake — alongside other members of UNM’s Nepali Student Association, she lauded UNM’s affordability, its “nice” faculty and what she called the overall welcoming nature of the state as a whole.
“It’s amazing how open New Mexico is,” she said.