Asian Night—the Year of Thunderbird

Asian night is one of the most famous regional nights in Thunderbird. On November 6, you could find all kinds of delicious food of this amazing continent from Japanese sushi and Korean jabchae (meat with dangmyeon, potato-made noodles) to well-known Chinese cuisines (tofu, wonton, etc.) and delicious Taiwanese fried rice noodles and boba bubble tea. Although there was no free beer, people were still pleased by those popular foods. The talent shows and martial arts also contributed to a great success of the party. Claps, applauses and whistles lasted for the whole night.

It was also the first day of the alumni weekend and Thunderbird Rugby Tournament. Alumni, Thunderbird students, and all rugby players made the TAC very crowded. Before the party started, people waited along the stands to get the food as soon as possible. The first thing you have in mind of Asian night is all about the food. Eventually, everyone was ready for the show and the food. The talent show started then.

First, the multimedia shows introduced all countries in Asia. The background music enhanced their eating experiences. Everyone brought his/her family to the party as others. There were a lot of energetic kids dancing or posing with a Japanese umbrella on the stage. Their parents chased after these little angels’ smiles and took pictures.

After the slide shows, a series of garrulous drums fellow. The Lion Dance Group invited by Greater China Club (GCC) jumped up. Its powerful steps attracted the audience with raindrop-like drums. Children watched the show and felt interested in those colorful decorations on lion’s head. The lions came alive and winked to people around when the group performed. When everyone was still immersed in the dance, a powerful man with Chinese broadsword came up around the corner on stage. Yes, the martial art, Kongfu, would hold your breath since now. The heavy Chinese broadsword was like a toy to him. Other performers demonstrated the stick, twin knifes, palm, and drunk style within the small stage but without any problem. At the end of their performances, each of them somersaulted from the edge and amazed everyone.

Japanese Club presented “Bon-Odori”, a Japanese traditional dance in summer, and there are tons of varieties of dancing and music in each region or town. The dance rises from primitive dance with religious meaning, but since around 500 years, it has developed into public entertainment. All Japanese students lined up, circled, and danced with the music. It was very easy to learn, and they invited everyone dancing with them. Although we were not familiar with the step, we still had great time. Thailand’s show was dancing cartoon charters with Thai music. It brought us a lot of laugh. One of the dancers kept grabbing his pants from falling apart. That even made more fun to audience. Taiwan Club had a “Vogue Show” in connection with all characters for each city in Taiwan. Those students were not the pros but delivered their greatest passion and best performance. Mike, President of ASEAN Club, sang a love song himself with the charm as a super star. Lots of girls were screaming for him.

Korean Club called for the contest of Je Gi Cha Gi after their demonstration. I did not dare to try to embarrassed myself. Those little kids were encouraged to join the competition. Tiffany from Taiwan and Gurbanali from Azerbaijan were those few who took the challenges. Everyone counted the times they kicked together and decided whom the winner is. Tiffany was the last standing one. Korean Club gave the souvenirs to everyone who joined the contest at the end.

GCC’s Angela performed Elva’s song “a Single Girl’s Life”. It’s difficult to tell the difference between hers and Elva’s original copy. You almost felt like in a concert. The song from Dajie’s chorus was “Look over Here Girls”. They did a great job to simulate how lonely boys’ first love was like. The other three girls invited to the stage interpreted the songs very well by pretending to ignore the chorus. It’s really fun to see their show. Except Dajie, the rest of the chorus had no idea in speaking Mandarin but memorized the lyrics through pinyin. That was gorgeous!! No wonder they got the most applause from people.

“Deep in the Bamboo (Dance)” from GCC was a representative folk dance of the Dai people. Dai people are one of the 56 Chinese ethnic groups living in Yunan province which is in Southwestern China. These girls spent plenty of time in preparation. Their hard work was obviously worthy! Their graceful gesture and elegant dance was such perfect match with the Chinese music. Everyone enjoyed their performance so much and returned nonstop whistles. It was also the best end for the talent show.

The last part of the night was fashion show. Asian students presented different traditional attires. You could see the Chinese qipaos and longevity jackets, the Japanese Yukata, the smiling Thai girls, and the fabulous Korean traditional clothing with the whole family members. These Korean little angels in their traditional suits had no stage fright and looked at the audience with cute smiles. After the fashion show, it was the time for group pictures. Those students who wore t-shirts and jeans in class day were the hottest and the most popular models then.

What’s the next? Let’s go to the pub and kept celebrating the party!

Note:

Special thanks to those who strived for the excellent Asian Night and spent a lot of time in making it the best. Because of your endeavors, we had one of the best regional nights. Thank you very much!

鸞翔鳳集亞洲夜

十一月六日的 亞洲之夜是雷鳥最有名的活動之一，你可以在這兒發現各國美食，從日本壽司到韓國馬鈴薯拉麵（沒錯，真的是用馬鈴薯揉出來的）；從遠近馳名的中國菜到令人懷 念的台灣炒米粉以及珍珠奶茶。雖然沒有免費啤酒，但你可以從大排長龍的攤位看出這些食物受歡迎的程度；晚會上載歌載舞的表演與中國武術更讓全場高潮迭起， 掌聲、喝采、口哨不絕於耳。

亞洲之夜當天是畢業校友回學校的日子，再 加上橄欖球友誼賽來自各校的隊伍與雷鳥的學生將學生活動中心擠得水洩不通。七點半不到就開始有人在旁摩拳擦掌，準備卡位搶食物，熱門的程度可見一斑；一提 到亞洲之夜，所有人嘴裡的唾液就忍不住蠢蠢欲動。好不容易等到大家心滿意足領著食物就定位，晚會節目也就正式開始了。

首先是介紹亞洲各國的多媒體秀，在悠揚樂音中佐餐也是另一種意境。與其他晚會一樣，大家都是扶老攜幼共襄盛會，會場裡有很多不甘寂寞的小朋友，在舞台上搖頭晃腦跳起舞來，或是拿著日本油傘擺起各種姿勢，讓台下的爸媽不吝惜拍著一張又一張的照片。

投影片播畢，一陣碎鼓緊接而來，中國學生 會邀請的醒獅團躍上舞台，隨著雨點般的鼓聲，強勁有力的步伐吸引全場的目光，小朋友則直盯著獅頭上七彩繽紛的飾物，乖乖坐在台前欣賞他們的表演，活靈活現 的獅子不時還會向台下的觀眾眨眨眼。台下觀眾還在回味舞獅表演之際，手持大刀的大漢威風凜凜出現在舞台彼端，讓你暫時停止呼吸的中國武術上場了。沈重的大 刀在他手中像是玩具一樣，劈、砍、挑、削，虎虎生風。還有孫悟空的金箍棒、雙刀、雙掌、醉拳，小小的一個舞台絲毫侷限不了他們精湛的武藝。最後，他們更一 個個從舞台邊翻身躍下，看得台下大呼過癮。

日本則為大家帶來了「盆踊り」， 這是八月慶典（盂蘭盆會）所跳的一種舞，原本具有宗教意義的舞蹈，現在則成為慶典上的娛樂活動；所有日本同學在台上圍成圓圈隨著音樂節奏擺動；舞步簡單易 懂，所以不到一首歌的時間，日本同學就開始邀大家上台同歡。雖然我們不熟悉舞步跳得七零八落，只要開心也就夠了。泰國的舞蹈表演則是以卡通人物配上泰語歌 曲，帶給台下觀眾許多歡笑，中間還有小插曲，表演的一位同學不知怎麼了，褲子一直往下滑，意外讓台下觀眾笑聲不斷。台灣同學會準備了服裝秀，加上各個城市 的特色穿插其中，他╱她們不是專業的模特兒，卻展現了高水準的台風與活力。東南亞國協學生會會長則當場高歌一曲，台下的觀眾聽得如癡如醉，還引來不少尖叫 聲，博得滿堂彩。

韓國的踢毽子表演邀請全場觀眾上台挑戰， 看誰踢得最多下；我自知技不如人，不敢上台獻醜。反而是台下的小朋友一個個躍躍欲試；台灣的Ｔ還有阿塞拜疆的Ｇ是少數上台挑戰的學生，最後在全場觀眾一起 計算次數下分出勝負，Ｔ打敗Ｇ拿下冠軍，好在每位參加者都有紀念品，要不台上扁著嘴的小朋友可能不會善罷干休。

中國同學會的Ａ帶來蕭亞軒的「一個人的精 彩」，不輸專業歌手的台風與唱腔，讓人以為來到演唱會現場。Ｄ帶領的男子合唱團，將「對面的女孩看過來」這首歌詮釋得味道十足，台下臨時邀請的三位女同學 則配合他們的演出增加了不少笑料；而原本一句中文都不會說的團員硬靠著漢語拼音把整首歌唱完，當然獲得台下的熱烈掌聲。

中國同學會最後一個表演活動是「竹林深處」，揉合了來自中國雲南的傳統傣族舞蹈，之前花了許多時間準備的女同學們，總算辛苦有了代價，優美的肢體語言配上傳統國樂，不知撩動多少男同學的心，口哨聲從頭到尾沒有停過，手上雖沒酒，看著曼妙的舞姿也醉了。

最後的服裝秀表演從中式旗袍與馬褂、日式 浴衣、微笑滿面的泰國美女到闔家登場的韓國傳統服飾，裹在華麗服裝裡的小朋友，骨碌碌轉著的大眼睛直瞧著台下觀眾，模樣可愛極了。晚會到此暫時告一段落， 少不了大合照的時間，特別是平常看慣Ｔ恤牛仔褲的同學們一個個都換上各國的傳統服裝，更是所有目光的焦點。

接下來呢？當然是繼續換到隔壁的酒吧把酒言歡囉！