On the 25th of April the big Mercator Common Room was much too small for the large group of students, host families and other guests who were eager to learn more about the wonderful part of the world called South East Asia. To the greatest surprise of the people present, the first person they saw wasn't a south-east Asian, but an American tourist, Trevor. However, he planned to travel to South East Asia, so we also took the opportunity to travel with him.
The first country visited was the densely populated Hong Kong, with its hectic pace, advanced technology and beautiful sceneries. We have watched a touching introduction to the real life of Hong Kong and together with Trevor we were surprised to discover that the people from Hong-Kong were celebrating the New Year. The next stop in our journey was Vietnam, with diverse climate and people, where Trevor received a big traditional red flower as a gift.
Armed with the nice flower he was now determined to offer it to a beautiful south-east Asian girl. He went to Thailand, but nobody made his heart beat faster, though the Thai people are always smiling. Instead, he learned Thai expressions and interesting facts about the royal family and admired the relaxing sunny beaches. A funny video made us aware of the overcrowded streets and of the excuses used by the workers in Thailand when they are late. Trevor's next stop was Indonesia, the country of a lot of volcanoes and earthquakes, of mandatory religions, but also of mouthwatering food.
Trevor has finally found a recipient for his flower in Mongolia, a country in East Asia with scarce population, some of it being still nomad. Consequently, the horses play a big role in the life of Mongolian people and the head of the horse decorates the musical instrument Morin Khuur. The peak of the evening was the Mongolian band, which enchanted the audience with throat-singing and the mastery of playing the traditional instruments.
Afterwards we followed the American tourist into the servery, where we tasted delicious south-east Asian food and drinks, prepared and served by the hospitable students who lifted the veil of the South East Asia.