4B- Thursday, March 8, 2012

The Michigan Daily - michigandaily.com

4B - Thursday, March 8, 2012 The Michigan Daily - michigandailycom


TEA TIME
From Page 1B
herfoodfromtheEuro Marketon
Packard. With a variety of East-
ern European foods, Euro Market
offers a truly authentic Russian
culinary experience. So authen-
tic, in fact, that Achtenberg's
figure-skating coach - who orig-
inally tipped her off to the Euro
Market and is from Russia her-
self - has to translate the labels
for her since they are written in
Cyrillic. Others in years past have
had the food catered from an eth-
nic restaurant. When such food is
harder to find, the Martha Cook
dining hall can provide it.
When asked what kinds of tea
the tables serve, Czech respond-
ed, "Usually, it's food. The ironic
part of International Tea is that
rarelyis there ever tea served."
Making the tradition
Tea was served, though, back
when International Tea was more
like a regular Friday tea instead
of the big event it has become. As
Czech explained, many of Mar-
tha Cook's traditions start out as
small events that gradually grow
in size and prominence within
the hall community. Interna-
tional Tea is an example of such
a process.
International Tea has been
going on for over 40 years. While
it was originally proposed as an
educational experience for Mar-
tha Cook residents, the form of
this education has changed dras-
tically. Some of its most notable
qualities, such as itspublic nature
and its emphasis on food, were
not always there.
As 'U' alum Catherine Davis
remembers it, there was an
International Tea at least one of
her two years in Martha Cook
(1968 to 1970). It had just been
proposed by the Martha Cook
Multicultural Council, and it
amounted to card tables set up in
the hall with poster displays to
represent the countries and their
cultures. These were the old kind
of displays: 25-cent poster-board
covered with cut-out magazine
pictures and hand-lettering. The

The Gold Room is one of the elegant spaces in which International Tea will take place.

food wasn't culturally specific,
remaining the same as the serv-
ings of a normal Friday afternoon
tea. All of this was intended as
an educational experience exclu-
sively for the residents of Martha
Cook.
Flash forward four decades,
and the event has turned into a
tradition with authentic food,
personal histories and some-
times even a sense of humor. Last
year, LSA senior Emma Lawton
decided to do atable on the Great
Lakes. She served water. It was
just tap water, but she reasoned
that all tap water in Michigan
comes from the Great Lakes
Basin. And while the Great Lakes
are pretty close to home, home
is a rather complicated concept.
This year, Lawton will do a table
on San Marino, a small, land-
locked country on the eastern
Italian peninsula. Through a San
Marino state law, Lawton, whose
grandfather was born in San
Marino, was able to become a cit-
izen of the small state whose cul-
ture has had so much influence on
her family and upbringing.
"(International Tea) is a way
to share what's going on in San
Marino," Lawton said. "It's a very
small country, one most people
haven't heard about, but it's very
important to me because my fam-

ily is from there and it's some-
thingI grew up with."
A local treat called tizzelle cui-
sine will represent San Marino.
"It's a type of cookie," Lawton
said. "A wafer that you make in a
waffle bowl."
Lawton described tizzelle as
being easy to make for 500 peo-
ple, which is good, as Interna-
tional Tea has attracted such a
high number in recent years.
In addition to the food, there
can be demonstrations of repre-
sented countries' art and culture.
At the San Marino table, one will
find the San Marino flag as well
as its ceramics and pottery, an art
the country is known for.
"My family actually owns a
pottery factory in San Marino,"
Lawton said. "SoI have examples
of plates you would see, the tradi-
tional kind of pottery."
In years past, Chinese art dis-
plays, Mexican folk dances, Tae
Kwon Do demonstrations and
bagpipe performances have all
helped create the diverse atmo-
sphere of the event. This year,
Czech plans to have a projector
display of international danc-
ing and music to fill the build-
ing with an ethnic flare, which
will either be colorfully foreign
or familiar, depending on the
event-goer.
Fashion parades, Scottish
kilts and more
In an attempt to bridge the
cultural distance between the
United States and the rest of
the world, International Tea
at Martha Cook traditionally
provided the local area with a
globally aware and education-
ally rich event. By 1990. the

event was beginning to resemble
its current incarnation.
"I remember it being a big deal,
but probably not as big a deal as
it is now," wrote 'U' alum Beth
Yaros Johnston in a statement.
"There was usually a lot of food
with some dancing. I remember
opening it up to the campus but
it was mostly friends of residents,
although it was always pretty
crowded."
During the past five years, rep-
resenting culture through food
has become the main focus of the
event, according to Martha Cook
Director Marion Law.
Holding the position of direc-
tor since 1997, Law has seen
quite a few spectacles at Interna-
tional Tea, from women in fash-
ion parades bearing the national
dress of a country to a great vari-
ety of musical and dance groups
like Korean drummers or Czech
dancers. Of course, everyone has
their favorites.
"Personally, I enjoy my hus-
band Dave having the opportu-
nity to wear his kilt while helping
to serve haggis to dubious guests
at the Scottish table," wrote Law
in a statement.
Tomorrow from 3 p.m. to 5
p.m., the main hallway of Martha
Cook will be lined with flags of
many nations as the Gold and Red
Rooms are filled by the scents and
sensibilities of 18 different coun-
tries. The tables of the countries
represented this year - Russia,
Poland, San Marino, Ireland, Sin-
gapore, India, Antarctica, Arme-
nia, Sweden, Germany, Italy,
Finland, Switzerland, Argentina,
Basque Region (Spain), England,
Albania and Scotland - will each
celebrate, with their own part
and parcel. humanity's diversity.

#TRENDS COLUMN
Sh*t people
shouldn't say
ur brains love to cat- films, falling under the same
egorize, simplify and meme of #shitpeoplesay, illumi-
stereotype. We find nates the dark side of the West-
few things more enjoyable than ern psyche. When we view these
laughing at clips, the content isn't shocking
ourselves and to us - and that's where the real
the idiosyn- issue might be. For the most
cratic com- part, the content isn't unfamiliar
munities that because the stereotypes already
surround exist in our minds, but the craze
us. New externalizes these thoughts in
Yorkers, frat an exaggerated manner that sets
stars, hip- JULIA these archetypes further apart.
sters, surf- SAMH- We laugh at the renditions of
ers, college EppSTgMR the stereotypes we identify with
freshmen, because we get it, but when we
lesbians, LA laugh at shit said about another
residents, person's religion, location, social
yogis ... there are "Sh*t (Blank) class, ethnicity, sex or career field
Says" videos for all these popu- that is not our own, itcgets messy.
lations. YouTube documentation Truth: It's only appropriate
of these social moments - which to laugh when it's your shit. It
may compose the cultural his- makes viewers feel better about
tory of our wonderfully wigged- pigeonholing groups of people
out generation - is, based on when they step into the "it's not
quantities of YouTube likes and just me" mentality that these
of country-spanning renditions, videos bring about. ButI don't
what we get a kick out of these see any positive implications
days. Yes, somehow, someway, unearthing themselves from
the series is still alive. soiled thoughts being made
public. Bystander apathy, any-
body? While this term isn't quite
The meme is accurate, since this isn't about
helping a victim in an emergency
amnusing, but situation, there is a diffusion of
responsibility happening, a paci-
fication of mind via the discov-
ery that it's not just you who is
putting people in tight boxes.
As well as becoming paci-
It all began with - forget fied, we may be becoming more
Adam and Eve this time - not desensitized to the injustice of
women, but "Girls." Well, no, cataloguing and generalizing a
that's not even accurate ... the type of person by one of their
YouTube trend started with two personal factors. Watching
clever boys named Kyle Hum- these videos, even if you don't
phrey and Graydon Sheppard totally agree with the words, is
who triumphantly mocked the likely primingviewers through
shit girls say, by means of social exposure to generalizations that
media. The key to the success of subconsciously affect the way we
the first episode of "Sh*t Girls think of the imitated group.
Say" and other qualityspin-offs There are absolutely offensive
out on the Internet is that these opinions being thrown around in
comedians were spot on ... ina the videos that are aimed at spe-
demeaning and generalized way, cific ethnicities, sexes, religions
but still. Sheppard and Juliette and sexual preferences - and
Lewis killed it on the execution, that's not cool - but some humor
letting vibrant humor gleam does originate when the topic is
through their vocal imitations of, of a less controversial nature. For
"Like I'm not even joking right example, in "Sh*t Hipsters Say,"
now," and, "Listen. Listen. Lis- which happens to lack humor,
ten. Listen. Listen ... shut up!" lines like "Have you ever read
This single video has over 15 any Bukowski?" or "I hate Adele"
million hits, a beast of a meme don't cross the line of inappro-
unleashed. It's not exclusive priate. But most lines from spin-
anymore because the trend has offs like "Sh*t White Girls Say to
literally spanned as far as "Sh*t Brown (Desi/Indian) Girls" go
Nobody Says" and "Sh*t People far too far - except the director,
Say About Sh*t People Say" writer and actors in this short
videos. film seem to be Desi/Indian and
I've been trying to decide poking fun at bits of their own
the level of offense these vid- culture. Does that make it okay?
eos reach, and it seems to be a Probably.
very complex answer. For a yogi "Sh*t People Say About Sh*t
watching "Sh*t Yogis Say," it may People Say Videos" gets it right:
work as a self-defense mecha- When watching a video that
nism, making the yogi feel less addresses one of your own
stupid about the ridiculously typecasts or folds of society, you
archetypal utterances that come say, "That's so true ... It's funny,
out of their mouths. There may because it's really true."
be gain here for the yogi in ques-
tion, and this can be applied to Smith-Eppsteiner is uploading
all populi. "Sh*t Columnists Say." To comment,
The majority of these short e-mail julialix@umich.edu.

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A replica of the Venus de Milo greets visitors to Martha Cook.

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DEADLINES:
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