Get a Myanmar nametag at the CulturalFest Expo
CulturalFest, FIUTS' annual celebration of all things global on the University of Washington campus, is coming up on February 14 and 15. Over the next few weeks, we'll be profiling some of the many student volunteers who make CulturalFest happen, asking them each the same series of questions to learn more about where they're from and what they hope to share about their country or culture.
The CulturalFest Expo will feature booths from 37 different countries and regions around the world.
Today, we're featuring a profile from Michelle, the leader of the Myanmar booth!
Tell us a bit about yourself.
My name is Michelle Lee. I’m a junior here at the University of Washington studying biochemistry. I was born in Yangon, Myanmar and my family moved to the United States when I was seven.
Chuang Thar Beach
What will CulturalFest visitors be able to see and do at your booth to learn about Myanmar?
We’ll be making Myanmar nametags for our visitors so that they take a piece of our culture back home! Also, we’ll be applying thanakar on people’s faces. Thankar is wood paste that is traditionally used by Burmese women as makeup and sunblock. Besides those two activities, visitors can browse through various Burmese paraphernalia as well as asking us any questions about the culture they might have.
What’s one important thing you want people to know about Myanmar?
Myanmar is a relatively unheard of country here in the United States. Our main goal as an organization this year is to simply educate people where to locate it on a map and just to create a presence for our culture.
If someone was going to travel to Myanmar, where would you recommend they visit?
Because the primary religion in Myanmar is Buddhism, there are many ancient pagodas worth visiting. Bagan is a beautiful city full of many preserved pagodas from the 11th to 13th centuries. The Shwedagon Pagoda in Yangon
is like the Space Needle of Seattle in the way it marks the city with its stature. The Kyite Htee Yoe or Golden Rock Pagoda located in the Mon State is an astounding structure perched on the edge of a cliff. Legend has it that a strand of Buddha’s hair lies under the pagoda and keeps it from falling off the cliff. There are also beautiful beaches such as Ngapali and Chaung Thar.
Kyite Htee Yoe Pagoda
If someone wanted to know more about Myanmar, are there any books, movies, or websites you’d recommend?
I would definitely look through travel sites to learn more about different tourist attractions. Burma VJ is a great documentary to watch if you’re looking to learn more about the recent political background of the country. I would also recommend The Lady, a film about one of Myanmar’s most famous figures, Daw Aung San Suu Kyi. If you are interested about current events, http://www.irrawaddy.org/ and http://www.mmtimes.com/ are some great news websites to check out.
When you first arrived at the University of Washington, what surprised you the most about Seattle?
I guess this question is a bit irrelevant to me since I have lived here for ten years before starting school at the University. However, when I first arrived to the country, the weather and scenery was a big contrast. I also found seatbelts to be odd since they did not have them back in Myanmar.
Thank you, Michelle!
The CulturalFest Expo takes place on February 14 from 11:00-3:30 at the University of Washington HUB. It is a free, family-friendly event at which students from around the world will lead activities and teach visitors about different aspects of their countries and cultures. Over 30 world regions will be represented. Click here for more information about CulturalFest!