a blog by Pawlean

Embracing Global Diversity 🌎

—

by

Pauline
in

Last night, I attended the International Cultural Evening, it was pretty cool.

The International Cultural Evening (ICE) is an annually organized show which features multicultural performances. I enjoyed the competitive edge to the show – the energy the different societies  (representing different cultures) was amazing and contagious too. I naturally have a lot of energy so having everyone else’s energy rubbing off on me made me super hyped 😝

Each society dressed in their national dress bringing their culture, history, and stories to Sheffield.

The show made me think about my own culture – moving and growing up in the UK with my parents originally from the Philippines and Spain, I’ve always struggled to “find” where I belong. Often feeling that I don’t really belong anywhere because of the diverse, complicated background I come from.

I still find it hard to answer the question, “So, where are you from?” Do I say, Sheffield, because I grew up here? Or my roots? Chynna wrote a blog post a month ago, “Being Mixed Race” which really resonated with me. I can relate to everything in the post, but especially:

“Throughout periods of my life I have always felt that I do identify with one race more than the other. This was not something that I actively sought to do.

If we’re getting into stereotypes, I don’t even think I fit into any of them…

…This is not to say that they are dismissing me in a bad way, but more like they can’t figure out who I am. Much like myself.”

The evening made me worry less about “fitting” in a certain group because of the international world we live in – we’re all global citizens, right? This was also demonstrated in the fact, each society wasn’t strictly all from one culture, there were a mix of different races in each but did they still own that cultural dance-off? Hell yeah, they did.

I also became more aware that I haven’t been in touch with my Filipino or Spanish side for a long time, the internationalism around me inspired me to reconnect! If I start throwing in Tagalog/Spanish into conversations, this will be why.😆

ICE2017 round-up video

ICE2017 in pictures

A pun-filled night, thanks!
The crowd!
🇵🇭🇪🇸🇳🇬🇸🇴

Thank you for an awesome evening, ISC and the continuous hard work in getting international voices heard – #WeAreInternational indeed 💜

Diversity is the one true thing we all have in common. Celebrate it everyday!

Comments

17 responses to “Embracing Global Diversity 🌎”

  1. Tara avatar
    Tara

    What a wonderful event. I love diversity and embrace it. I’ve always been in a diverse environment at school or work. Sharing each other’s culture and such is a wonderful thing. Globalisation is a thing, and it bothers me when some nations aren’t as global as they claim. And despite us becoming more international, there are things that are still limited. The Olympics, for one thing, is a very international event, but they geo-block the heck out of it on television network and online streaming :/ Just, whyyyyy? Sorry, didn’t mean to go off-tangent there.

    I can relate to not knowing where you belong because of the complicated background. I feel that mine is even more complicated, by being a Korean adoptee who’s a US citizen who only lived in the US for one year . . . so yeah. That’s why I just accept who I am, accept that I’m a rather unique case. No need to feel like I don’t fit in or whatever when really we all have different background. No one person will have the exact same background when you stop and think about it. It might be similar, yes, but not 100% the same.

    I feel that I am in touch with my Korean side, but I don’t exactly act gung-ho about it, too. I am interested in Korean history, culture, and language, but I don’t always embrace it. If anything, it annoys the eff out of me when people tell me, “You’re Korean — ONLY Korean.” Uh, no. I’m not just Korean, I’m also American! Really don’t like it when people dictate who I am X_X;

    Anyway, thank you for writing this post. Thank you for sharing the ICE event, too. I love culture sharing, especially when it comes to food! 😀

    Reply
  2. Julian Bentham avatar
    Julian Bentham

    Glad you enjoyed the puns!

    Reply
    1. Pauline avatar
      Pauline

      I liked them so much, I romained where I was and stayed till the end of the show! <3

      Reply
      1. Julian Bentham avatar
        Julian Bentham

        Awh, that’s so ICE of you!

        Reply
        1. Pauline avatar
          Pauline

          Oh dear! 🙈

          Reply
  3. Chynna avatar
    Chynna

    I see my name 🙋🏽

    I saw your Snapchat about this and it looked so hype! I would have loved to attend something like this 🙂 I’m glad you had fun. I remember in primary school we had International Food Evening, which I got SO excited for because 1. FOOD 2. I got to show off the food from the two countries I’m from and 3. I loved tried other culture’s food.

    Aw, I’m glad you could resonate with my post! It’s like you said, at the end of the day “we’re all global citizens”. It’s always fun to explore your cultures, as well.

    Aha, mahal kita babes. Looking forward to some Taglish 😛

    Reply
  4. Nancy avatar
    Nancy

    ICE looked like a great event! It’s great to learn more about other cultures and be as accepting as we can. What I love about other cultures is their food ;). SOooo bring me some delish munchies XD.

    I find it hard to relate to my culture sometimes buuuut that’s a story for another day :’). It’s okay if you don’t fit into a specific group. You do you and enjoy life ;). There IS space in the world for you and everyone else to express themselves and what they like doing. At the same time, we’re all creating new traditions for the future to maybe adopt… Though- would this include dabbing and stuff? :’)

    Reply
  5. Gillan avatar
    Gillan

    It seems like you had fun! If only diversity was more celebrated around the world, then it would be a better place.
    You’re half-Filipina? I only knew until now! I’m also a Filipina 🙂
    You girls looked gorgeous! I love your outfit, btw <3

    Reply
  6. Richel V. avatar
    Richel V.

    I would love to attend events like this – especially in today’s time. The last I attended that has a theme like this was when different provinces of the Philippines. They had a booth set up in college and they share the food and culture. There’s a lot of diversity in the Philippines alone. Would love to know more about other countries.

    xo, Richel V.

    Reply
  7. Cassidy avatar
    Cassidy

    I used to go to an international day festival when I was in girl scouts as a kid. Of course the people representing the countries weren’t always from that that actual country but that didn’t stop us from having fun and immersing ourselves in the different cultures.

    This looks like a couple of tiers up and it looks absolutely amazing! I’m so glad you had such a good time and that you were able to enjoy the different cultures. I’d love to do something similar if my school ever holds something like that.

    And don’t worry about having lots of energy. My friends ask me all the time how I have so much energy 😉

    Reply
  8. Liv avatar
    Liv

    Ahhh wow this sounds amazing! Getting to meet people from different backgrounds is the best and I love traditional dress! Love the photo of you with the Muslim lady. 🙂

    Oh, you are also Spanish! Do you identify as English though? I definitely identify as American even though my culture is Chinese. I used to get mocked for not caring for my Chinese background or trying to “pretend to be white”. After I became a Christian though I was more comfortable with my identity because humans are global and my ethnic identity doesn’t make me better or less than anyone else. I don’t have to try to fit in as Chinese in order to be 100% Chinese, and still American. 🙂

    Reply
  9. Cat avatar
    Cat

    Wow, that looks like an amazing event! I would love to see performances from different cultures all in one place, and I think it’s a great way to showcase diversity.

    I can relate to the feeling of not knowing where to fit in. I’m not mixed race, but being a first generation Chinese American was kind of confusing. I was conflicted between Chinese and American culture, but now I’m at a place where I realize I can just do both 🙂

    I’m glad you had a great time at the event!

    Reply
  10. Rezina avatar
    Rezina

    The event looks really fun! I think it’s great to be exposed to different cultures. You learn a lot more that way and you become a more well-rounded person, I feel like, the more you get exposed to diversity. It’s also great that going to the event made you want to become more aware about your own culture.

    And I agree that you don’t need to be box yourself into one group. It’s a great idea to embrace both parts of your identity, and not just one of them or part of your identity.

    Reply
    1. Rezina avatar
      Rezina

      LOL sorry a bit of that made no sense whatsoever. My brain is fried from school. I meant – I feel like the more you get exposed to diversity, you learn a lot more and you become a more well-rounded person xD

      Reply
  11. Sakura avatar
    Sakura

    The performance looks great! Glad that you have a great time too. I always find people who are mixed blood quite good looking. It’s like they have the best genes from both parents!

    Reply
  12. Georgie avatar
    Georgie

    This sounds like an awesome event 🙂 I think it is so important to embrace the different cultures that are out there in the world. Even things like the way other cultures dress, things they eat, the customs they have.

    I also read Chynna’s blog post and I left a comment there, but I would pretty much say the same thing here about being mixed race. My parents are Indonesian-Chinese but I have a lot of Chinese ancestors. But I don’t really feel like I identify with being Chinese at all. We shouldn’t feel like we have to choose. On top of that, I have some Dutch background, which I don’t even identify with much, but I know it contributes to me being who I am. And what obviously contributes a lot to the person I am is the fact that I was born in Australia. The lifestyle I live is Australian. I think people can identify with many cultures, even if that culture has nothing to do with their background. For example, I identify with Japanese culture and respect it, because I enjoy their food, customs and way of life, but I’m not Japanese at all.

    I don’t think anyone should feel like they have to “belong” to one specific culture or race. We should be open to embracing them all.

    Reply

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.