Another year comes with another chance for international students to show their cultural talents and customs with others.

Global Cultural Night will allow international students to come together on one stage and perform cultural dances and songs to celebrate cultural diversity on campus.

The show will take place 7 p.m. to 10 p.m. on Saturday, October 1st in the Grand Ballroom of the Martin Luther King Jr. University Union. The event is free and refreshments will be served.

George Anaman, the public relations officer for Association for International Students and an exchange student from Ghana, said this is an important event because the show will bring awareness to other cultures to those who are not familiar with them.

“It’s important because it’s an event that will display different cultures (one may not be used to),” Anaman said. “It’s going to expose you to the different cultures around the world.”

This is Anaman’s first year as a public relations officer as well as his first year at Eastern.

During the show, there are performances planned by international students from Ghana, Saudi Arabia, India, Nigeria, China and more.

The winners of the “Coming to America” essay competition will also be announced.

For the competition, international students had to write about their experiences as living in America.

There will be a first, second and third-place winner. The first-place winner will receive $100, the second place-winner will receive $75 and the third-place winner will receive $50.

Anaman said he expects Global Cultural Night to have a high attendance rate because he has been telling many people about it.

The AIS has been in planning Global Cultural Night for about two weeks.

“You get to learn something from other countries, you will get to meet different people from all over the world,” Anaman said. “You get to learn something new from them and they also get to learn something new from you too.”

Anaman said he hopes students will come out and appreciate the global cultures and the beauty it holds.

“I hope students learn to appreciate what other countries have to offer,” Anaman said.

Janet Pernell can be reached at 581-2812 or jopernell@eiu.edu