Harmony Day at UC celebrates cultures from all corners

Did you notice all those flags hanging in the Refectory all week?

What about the market stalls?

The out of place Red Bull Paper Planes competition?

Ring a bell?

Wednesday was Harmony Day at UC – an annual event that celebrates inclusiveness, respect and a sense of belonging for everybody.

Being International Student Week and all, UC Life fittingly collaborated with UC Study Abroad’s International Mobility Fair too.

The Refectory was a colour clash of cultures. It was noisy too, when the Pacific Island performers weren’t dancing to banging drums, the resident DJ Josh Sellick, was mixing a “mish mash of weird beats” for the big day.

“Personally, Harmony Day doesn’t mean a whole lot.” Josh said, syncing the next track. “But you don’t really get a good idea of exactly how many cultures are represented across campus usually. So it’s good to see them all.”

Opposite the decks was a maze of market stalls, offering food and pamphlets to the curious passers-by. There, Nawaf Ibrahim, the International Student Officer at UC Student Association, ran a cupcake stall.

“Harmony Day is all about inclusion and celebrating our diversity on Campus” said Nawaf. “There are cultural activities throughout the campus, stalls from all of the cultural clubs and different food.”

Nawaf’s stall let students win a cupcake if they guess the flag correctly. By the looks of it, there was going to be plenty of leftovers.

“People are messing up the flags a lot.” he laughs, “I think it shows how limited our knowledge is, and how much we need to work on learning about different countries.”

The International Mobility Fair offered students to do just that, by offering exchange programs to foreign countries. Matthew at the Canada stall, has only been in Australia for weeks but has fallen in love with the multi-cultural atmosphere.

“Australia is a very welcoming place. You don’t want to go somewhere you don’t feel welcome. There is definitely a sense of belonging here. It’s such a diverse place.”

Overall, Harmony Day was vibing with laughter and smiles. But it would have been even better if there were foreign food stalls cooking up a treat.

Chips and gravy isn’t cultured on any day of the week.