The 2nd Annual MC Night

Last night, Lia and I attended the 2nd Annual Multicultural Night held at Ron's high school. Although Ron and I taught in a pretty diverse school back in our Cali days, our students mainly consisted of Blacks, Hispanics, Cambodians, and the token White kid here or there. As a result, Ron was absolutely blown away by the incredible diversity at his new high school in Washington where he found his classes full of students from literally all over the world. Due to this reason, Ron decided to head up a Multicultural Night last year that was a smashing success with over 300 people in attendance. It was a ton of work for no extra pay, but both he and his students were really pleased with the overall experience and the end product. So, although Ron is in the midst of the craziest and busiest school year of his professional career, there really was NO chance that he was going to get out of organizing another MC Night this year. Luckily, all of the extra hours were able to be applied towards the almost 600 intern hours he has to log in as part of his admin certification program. Thanks heavens for that! So, Lia and I showed up last night to support him in this cause AND to get in on some of that incredible and free food from all over the world!

Ron and Lia in their international garb before the evening's events commenced!

Some of the international decor that was hung around the cafeteria (yes, those posters are taped to cafeteria tables tipped up on their sides...it doesn't get any classier than this).

The evening was kicked off by several of Ron's students welcoming their family and friends in their mother tongue.

After the welcome, the first item on the agenda was EATING! There were four booths set up that were overflowing with food brought by the students and their families. Europe, Asia/Pacific Islands, Latin America, and Africa were all represented last night. Delicious!

The masses heading up to the Europe booth for some frenzied feeding.

After dinner, the rest of the evening was devoted to the entertainment portion of the program. The kids started off with several performing numbers (both singing and dancing), then a balut eating contest (you know, the half-developed duck egg that is all the rage in the Philippines), a pinata, and then a fashion show. Here are several of the students performing in a multicultural break dance number. I know, I know, multicultural break dancing is a bit of a stretch, but it sure was fun to watch!

One of Ron's students invited her little sister's Korean dance troupe to come and perform two dance numbers. Here they are dancing their first one. I just wanted to wear those shiny pajama costumes that they had on--don't they look SO comfortable?!

Another group of Ron's students performed the Tinikling which is the national dance of the Philippines where two people beat and tap two, long bamboo sticks on the ground while dancers jump in and out. After a demonstration, the dancers invited a few audience members to participate in the banging bamboo fun and, somehow, Ron ended up in the thick of it. Although my camera's flash was not working well at that moment, here is a pic of my man getting in touch with his roots. Oh, how proud his mother would be...

The final portion of the evening's program consisted of a fashion show where several of the students modeled the traditional clothes from their "mother countries." Ron decided to get in on the fun this year and put himself and Lia on the list. He modeled a barong (a men's Filipino dress shirt that we recently purchased at a little shop in Seattle) while Lia sported a silk dress that I bought for her in Bangkok yeeeears ago before Ron and I were even married. Here they are as they first entered the room. Apparently, Ron has a modeling side to him after all. Is he striking a pose or what?!

Lia became so involved in the fashion show that she insisted on being put down in order to strut her stuff her own way! She wasn't ready to be done with it all by the end of their walk together.

The aspiring model being prematurely whisked away from the catwalk. What a shame!

What a fun and fabulous night! Well done, RWH. Now go and take a nap!