The United Colors of the United Nations

After World War Two, President Woodrow Wilson proposed the idea of a League of Nations. The purpose of the league was to get countries to talk out their differences, rather than settle them on the field of battle. Considering the fact that most European countries had lost nearly a generation of young men, one would have thought that the world would have seen a need for just such a notion. However, the ideal that had lead to the war in the first place--nationalism--prevailed, and while the League of Nations was begun, it stood on the precarious foundation of the Versailles Treaty, which nearly insured the world would face another bitter conflict.

Twenty years later, the world did indeed face another global conflict, and this time the theater of war truly did span the globe, from Alaska, to Japan, to the South Pacific, China, the Middle East, North Africa, and Europe. However, at the conclusion of this second round of rampant nationalism, the world faced the fact that the world had become a global community. Therefore, the leaders of that time decided to recreate the League of Nations and called it the United Nations. Under its own flag, this league still exists, and while it is arguable that the United Nations has done its job, here at KIA, we celebrated United Nations Day as we dressed up to represent the countries our tiny school houses in its student body.

There can be no doubt from where these beautiful young ladies hale. While neither girl sports the stereotypical blond hair and light eyes, their rosy cheeks gave me little doubt that they are true descendants of their Viking forefathers.
When one provides food prizes for dressing up in national dress, high schoolers come running. In this sextet, we have a Canadian (eh), a Thai princess, a Danish Valkyrie, two Korean sweethearts, and one Chilean mountain woman. While many others did dress up, this is just a sample of the ethnicity we sport at Kunming International Academy.
Certainly, all the outfits were beautiful, however, the largest applause were saved for the school's smallest member. This young man, a four-year-old student of the Junior Kindergarten class, displays traditional dress from one of his homelands. His father is Chinese, and his mother is Japanese. Can you guess in which country's style he is dressed? Some of my students said he looked like a giant triangle. When he walked, he looked like a Weeble-Wobble. Everyone loved it.
In a school whose student body is fifty percent North American, Lady Liberty must be represented. This tiny Statue strolled around the school, spreading her light of freedom about the courtyard. Canada was also well represented. We even had a Native American--Mrs. League, who teaches High School ELD, is part Native North American. Cowboys and cowgirls also meandered about the campus like they were in some small cow-town from the early western days.
Even I got into the act. However, I did not dress in traditional American garb. I chose, instead, to dress in Chinese traditional servants clothing. As you can see below, my princess made certain she put me in my place. Since the Chinese saved red and gold for royalty, I always had to bow down in her presence. In any case, our United Nations Day culminated in a feast of food from around the world. To celebrate United Nations Day disrupted our regular class schedule, but not nearly as much as two World Wars disrupted the twentieth century. I guess I can make up those lesson plans easily enough.