marked the first step in a journey of discovery that will last a lifetime and was an opportunity to break down barriers and laugh and talk about our differences. To help accomplish this goal, I created a student team with representatives from different countries and over a series of meetings, we discussed ways to make the day fun and engaging. Then, the representatives separated and prepared their own stalls, a process that saw everyone share ideas and overcome difficulties. I am truly grateful for their work in helping me to organise a day that meant so much to multiple people; a day where 14 countries were represented and more than 300 people came. One of the boys that stood out the most was Michael Yu. Michael was always keen to make a difference and he always put in the most amount of effort. This year, he made an inspirational speech on International Day, which follows:
Ladies and Gentlemen,
To start with, I’d like to thank you for coming today to celebrate the second International Day of Dulwich. Summer term last year witnessed the inaugural International Day where the boys, staff and guests experienced the history, food and culture – with their similarities and differences, their delicacy and brutality – of some eleven countries that make the boarding and wider Dulwich community diverse and complete. The event saw immediate success as the curious boys overwhelmed the Lower Hall in their pursuit of each nation’s culture and history and, of course, most fervently, food. This year, we have continued the quest for food. The traditional Chinese Proverb ‘ ࿆犥觬ԅॠ ,’ compares food to the notion of holiness, emphasising food, above all else, as the fundamental and intrinsic necessity of men. Today, you will be able to taste a Russian ‘shushki’; today you will be able to get a nip of a Singaporean ‘bak kwa’; today you will be able to explore authentic slices and shreds of South African biltong, Turkish Delights, Ghanaian plantain chips and many more. Whilst enjoying these, I strongly encourage you to discover the culture and history of the communities to which the food was so crucial. Visit the stalls and talk to everyone you see: I hope today, for many of you, marks the first step in a journey of active discovery that lasts a lifetime. So, welcome to International Day, an event organised and presented by the boarding community of Dulwich College, where the College so proudly celebrates its diversity and multiculturalism. There is a lot of talk about breaking barriers, not in the aim of pursuing global homogeneity, but of an acceptance of differences, inclusion and integration. In an increasingly globalised world – or, to the East, where many of us are from, an increasingly Westernised world – it is easy to have our culture diluted or forgotten. The preservation of distinct identities is usually seen as a means of differentiation by ancestors and contemporaries to erect barriers, to pursue alienation. But it is also a useful tool for the exact opposite: the intermingling of diverse culture, the forging of the world as a diversified yet harmonious place. And today, the International Day team is going to present to you exactly how this is pursued in Dulwich and how this could also be pursued around the world.
One only has to walk through the cloisters at lunchtime to hear three different languages being spoken and see a plethora of posters advertising the Nordic, German, Spanish, French and Russian Societies
Thank you.
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