"We want to show that there is a fascinating, multifaceted, and most of all peaceable world out there – not just the world presented to us in the daily news,” Pro­fes­sor Tors­ten Schnei­der, the new director of the International Center, said of the International Evening in his welcoming remarks. Ul­ri­ke Nordau and Li­di­ja Rot­ten­ecker, also of the In­ter­na­tio­nal Cen­ter, moderated the program and pointed out the fact that 558 in­ter­na­tio­na­l students from as many as 73 countries are currently enrolled at Hoch­schu­le Of­fen­burg.

The Brazilians brought the audience to clap along right from the start, performing a dance called forro. The Turkish group sang folksongs and played along with an instrument called saz. ECM student Han­del Tapia from Chile recounted a tale from the Ata­ca­ma Desert, where once upon a time people believed that volcanoes were warriors and mountains were princesses. The Indonesian students wowed the audience with an expressive dance from West Papua. ECM student Luba explained in a photo presentation how the end of winter is joyously celebrated in her home country of Russia with a tradition called mas­le­nitza. A group of students from Ve­ne­zue­la and Co­lum­bia performed salsa, me­ren­gue and cum­bia dances together. Ukranian student Katja presented some of her country’s traditional celebrations. The German dance group of the University fired up the hall with a Dis­co f­ox. While it did not rain after all in D-001, the rain dance of the group from Ban­gla­desh, clad in traditional costumes like most performers this evening, certainly enthused the audience. Equally fascinating was the presentation by three Pakistani students, who self-confidently pointed out Pakistan’s contribution to this year’s soccer world championship: World-Cup ball "Bra­zu­ca" was produced by a company in Pa­kis­tan. Finally, students from India, Sri Lanka and Viet­nam danced traditional Indian dances together.

At the following international buffet, organized by Mar­lies Pol­let of the Gra­dua­te School, guests were treated to culinary delights from around the world. "I’ve been working in the kitchen all day,” said Li from China, standing behind various dishes all emptied out. "The demand was just overwhelming."