Shaukat Sheikh said there are three things that make a man wise: travel, knowledge and wisdom. Students can get a taste of travel Saturday while staying in Charleston.

From 9 a.m. to 8 p.m. at the Lifespan Center in Charleston, students and community members will have the opportunity to experience culture from different countries, including films, dance, crafts and food.

Sheikh, a graduate communications studies and technology major and co-president of the Association of International Students, said the event will allow students to have exposure to international culture.

One event that will span the day of the festival is the International Film Festival.

“There’s a saying that three things make a man wise: travel, knowledge, wisdom. And travel is one of them and like when you go watch movies you are virtually traveling to other places and seeing things,” Sheikh said.

From 9 a.m. to 8 p.m., participants can view films from Germany, Brazil, El Salvador and other countries.

Another event that will allow students to get a taste of culture is the International Food Festival from 6 to 8 p.m.

International students will be preparing food from their cultures on-site at the fair.

Muhammad Rizwan, a technology graduate student and treasurer of the Association of International Students, will be helping with the International Food Festival. He will be sharing a rice dish from his Pakistani culture.

Rizwan said the International Food Festival will give students and community members a chance to taste and learn more about food and its preparation in other countries.

Shaukat and Rizwan both agreed there are differences of how food is obtained in America from how it is obtained in Pakistan.

“In some different countries, people cook their food from scratch, so that is a process of how they physically collect all the ingredients and how they cook that,” Rizwan said.

Sheikh also explained in Pakistan he would go to the store and purchase a sack of oranges to squeeze for fresh juice instead of purchasing a carton of orange juice.

Sheikh also pointed out some differences of America food and food from his native Pakistan.

“Burger to us has never been real food before I came here,” Sheikh said.

Hamburgers in Pakistan are considered a snack instead of a meal. He explained that a person in Pakistan would go get a hamburger at McDonalds, then go home and eat a full dinner.

During the International Food Fair, the African Association will perform traditional African dance.

Other events of the day include bingo from 4 to 5 p.m., the International Student Exhibition from 2 to 4 p.m. and crafts from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. where participants can learn origami and make piñatas. There will also be henna tattoos provided by the Asian American Association.

In addition to previously mentioned events, the Newman Catholic Center will be passing out free fair-trade coffee.

These events will better inform participants on international cultures.

Sheikh said people who have not had exposure to international culture are missing out.

He explained that being uninformed of other cultures is like only wearing white when God has created so many other colors.

Sara Boro, media relation’s chair of the Association of International Students and a senior communications major, said the event will give students the opportunity to broaden their worldwide view.

“In today’s society everything is becoming more global and it doesn’t really matter anymore where you’re working, what department, you’re probably going to be working with someone from a different country,” Boro said.

She said having exposure to different cultures early on is important to anyone in any major.

Boro also said attending this event will allow students to meet with international students.

“If they have some questions in their minds about different countries they can ask,” Rizwan said.

He said students from different organizations, including Association of International Students, African Student Association, Asian American Association, Indian Student Association and Latin American Student Organization, came together as a team to put the event together.

The Lifespan Center is located at 11021 E. Co. Rd. 800N in Charleston.

Transportation to the center will be provided by the Newman Catholic Center. A 14-person-shuttle bus will run every half hour, departing from the Martin Luther King Jr. University Union bus stop.

Sam Bohne can be reached at 581-7942 or [email protected]