The Taiwanese American Students Association (jhuTASA) drew over 400 people to its 12th annual Night Market in the Mattin Courtyard on Sunday, sharing homemade Taiwanese food and collaborating with fellow Asian interest groups.
The event raised more than $600 for the LOSHASA Charity Foundation, which provides health care to underprivileged people in China.
“We do this to not only spread awareness of Taiwanese culture but [also] to bring together a lot of student groups,” junior Lisa Ni, jhuTASA co-president, said. “[In past years,] all the burden was on us, [but] we have more student groups participating than ever before. It’s exciting to see such a great turnout because each year it just gets bigger and bigger.”
A number of Asian organizations, including the Chinese Students Association (CSA), the Hong Kong Students Association (HKSA), Japanese Students International (JSI) and Singaporean Students Association (SSA), as well as Asian-interest fraternity Lambda Phi Epsilon and sororities alpha Kappa Delta Phi and Sigma Omicron Pi, prepared and served delicacies from their respective cultures.
“We are all about collaborative events among Asian groups, [and] this is the perfect example of one,” senior Brook Jeang, co-president of the Inter-Asian Council (IAC), said.
The IAC provides organizational and financial support to all the Asian interest groups on campus.
In addition to Hopkins Asian groups, students from other chapters of the Intercollegiate Taiwanese American Students Association (ITASA), including representatives from Towson University and the University of Maryland, Baltimore County, came to show their support at the Night Market.
Students from the many different participating groups, such as freshman Samantha Wang, CSA website designer, said that they enjoyed working alongside fellow Asian groups within the Hopkins community.
“It’s always good to keep good relations [between CSA and jhuTASA] because we speak the same language and parts of [our] cultures are the same,” Wang said. “Taiwan and China have [always] been strongly connected.”
Junior Cain Lu, a member of JSI, said the Night Market provided an opportunity for Asian students to share their cultures within the Asian and the general communities at Hopkins.
“It’s great to let people know we have great food and an awesome culture,” Lu said.
Alex Ting, a School of Public Health student and former member of Lambda Phi Epsilon, said he enjoyed the event and found it comforting.
“We made food using recipes that some of our bros [sic] knew, passed down from their parents,” Ting said.
The event also featured cultural performances from the Lion Dance Troupe, a traditional Chinese performance group, and JOSH, an Indian Fusion Dance Group. Other dance groups, including the Eclectics and SLAM, also performed.
“I wish there were more events like this on campus, [because] it’s just a nice way to get different cultures together and try something new,” freshman and SLAM member Erin Hedglen said.
Senior Stephanie Murdock, a member of multicultural sorority Delta Xi Phi, said she was happy to see such a large and diverse crowd.
“Even though it’s an [Asian cultural group’s] event, you can see people from all different backgrounds coming together and supporting them,” Murdock said. “It adds great atmosphere.”
This year’s Night Market included several new games, including sumo wrestling and a bun-eating contest.
“We’re known for our good food, but the games were more successful this year,” sophomore Austin Ko, jhuTASA cultural chair, said.
Although jhuTASA members said they were pleased with the overall success of the Night Market, many of them had ideas to further develop and improve the event in the future.
“In comparison to past years this [year] has been the best, but I wish that groups had prepared more food because it ran out really quickly,” Jasmine Wang, jhuTASA secretary, said.
