The Importance of International Day at ISB

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International Day was the International School of Beijing’s (ISB) very own Expo… a showcase of continents, countries, and cultures represented by the ISB families. This day provided a fun-filled way for students and the whole community to respect and celebrate ISB’s diversity through cultural performances, activities, and food tasting.

As is tradition, the celebrations started with a parade of all their students, faculty, and staff, with many wearing clothing representing their countries or cultures. Following the parade, students, parents, and staff had the opportunity to browse the showcases and enjoy various cultural entertainment. There were roughly 60 countries and regions represented in ISB’s student, parent, staff and faculty body, it was a big festival of global citizenship!

In the mid-1990s, International Day was called UN Day, the name was changed to International Day in 2004. Historically, UN Day was one of the biggest events on campus. It was a popular event known in Beijing with over several thousand people in attendance. With Beijing being such an international city then, and even more so now, many ambassadors came and visited ISB on UN Day. As this is the first time in 4 years that ISB hosted a full-fledged International Day, some of these old traditions were finally brought back. This year, ISB invited guest speaker Siddharth Chatterjee, UN Resident Coordinator of China, who gave a keynote address.

Since its inception, whether known as UN Day or International Day, the day has been a time for students and staff to extol their home countries – wearing traditional clothing, organizing cultural displays, and participating in fun activities like creating their own countries’ flags. Other features of the day that were continued this year included sharing traditional or common activities from your country. The event has such a long and rich history at ISB, and after a 4 year break, the whole community was buzzing with anticipation for an International Day that incorporated both old and new traditions.

School wide events like International Day are so important to ISB because the ISB community values getting together and community building. This all aligns with ISB’s strategic efforts to build strong, lifelong peer relationships across national, linguistic, and cultural lines in its inclusive community. Check out the video below to see this year’s highlights!

Images: Courtesy of ISB

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