The Indonesian Student Association will shed a bit of light on Ohio University’s international student body at its 10th annual celebration of Indonesian culture, music and food.
Indonesian Night will be held Sunday at 6 p.m. in Baker University Center Ballroom and will be themed “Mystical Java.” Java is the most densely populated island of Indonesia and home of the country’s capital city, Jakarta.
Moch Syifa, a graduate student studying communication and development studies and president of the Indonesian Student Association, said the organization chose Java as the focus of the evening in hopes of showing attendees the blend of cultures on the particular island.
Syifa said another change to this year’s festival will be an additional focus of hosting a “green” event.
“We try to reduce the waste during the event because we’re concerned about environmental issues,” he said.
The night’s festivities will include traditional Indonesian food, a trivia contest as a small educational component, and a performance of a traditional Indonesian dance. Syifa said although the dance does not originate from Java, it will be a popular attraction and will feature Indonesian and other international and domestic students.
“We’ve been practicing for a month,” he said. “We start from scratch. Even me, as Indonesian, I learned from scratch. So that’s going to be very interesting.”
Phoebe Parker, a sophomore studying political science and southeast Asian studies, is one of the domestic students taking part in the dance. She is studying Indonesian as a foreign language, which drew her to the Indonesian Student Association initially, and she participated in the festival last year as a dancer and volunteer as well.
“I never expected to learn traditional Indonesian dances, let alone actually be able to do them relatively well,” she said.
Parker said Indonesian Night is a special opportunity for domestic students because there are few American universities that offer Indonesian and southeast Asian programs — one factor that brings more Indonesian international students to OU.
“You can become friends with people from really all over the world because the international students here are really close and support each other in these events,” she said. “Not only is it fun, but it makes the world feel smaller in a way.”
Sudiman, a graduate student studying linguistics and a member of the Indonesian Student Association, will also be participating in the dance. In addition to preparing for the performance, he also helped coordinate the food for the event.
Sudiman arrived at Ohio University for the first time in August, so this Indonesian Night will be his first. He said after being away from Indonesia for six months, he is looking forward to a taste of home.
“I miss Indonesian food a lot,” he said. “This will be a good chance for me to get a taste of (it) again.”
Indonesian students in other parts of the United States, including Chicago and Utah, will be coming to perform and participate in the event, Sudiman said.
It will be a very interesting and exciting evening,” he said. “People usually know our country by Bali, as a tourism place, or know a bit about the food and the culture. So this is a big opportunity to introduce other things that our country has.”
Syifa said the event will be especially meaningful in part because of the current political environment of the U.S.
“International students have gotten some attention because of the political situation in the United States,” he said. “So this event will be (about diversity). We want to show that we are here … and we want to contribute to the community here in Athens.”
