The sights, sounds and flavors of 22 world regions came together yesterday afternoon in the HUB.

The International Fair, part of the weekend-long International Festival, featured international food for sale in the HUB Ballroom, with arts, crafts and cultural displays in the basement.

A children's program that included a puppet show, clowns and storytelling was held in the HUB Fishbowl.

"This is a good chance to see international students in action and as a whole," said Robert Goerder, Penn State Alumni Association travel coordinator and international liaison.

Milam Freitag, a State College resident, said he had already tasted dishes from Thailand, Africa, India, Korea and Turkey. He said he came because there are very few diverse international restaurants in town.

"It's a good food day," Freitag said.

The fair raises Americans' awareness and understanding of other cultures, Goerder said. In turn, international students have the opportunity to show pride in their cultures, he said.

About 2,700 international students are enrolled at University Park, he said.

At his booth outside of the HUB Ballroom, Goerder helped promote the establishment of Penn State alumni clubs in different countries to keep in touch with international University students after they graduate. These clubs exist in 45 countries, Goerder said.

"It is important to have friends overseas and create ambassadors for Penn State and the United States in their homeland," he said.

Penn State has 3,179 international alumni, he said. But Goerder said more than 6,000 international alumni are not on record because they have lost ties with the University.

Goerder said he is concerned about the 19 Penn State alumni from Iraq and the 11 from Kuwait.

Concerns about the gulf war carried over into the booths at the fair.

Hussein Cheraghi, presiding over the Iranian Muslim Student Association booth, said that every year Muslims consolidate their material on one table -- this year only political and religious literature.

He speculated that Iraqi and Saudi students were absent from the fair because of the gulf war.

"It's a good opportunity to show people other cultures even though the Israelis are over there and the Muslims are over here," Cheraghi said, referring to the two booths' locations.

At the Israeli table, Zvi Weinberg (graduate-aerospace engineering) agreed with Cheraghi that political discussions regarding world affairs are out of place at the fair.

"Our purpose is not to criticize other cultures but to show the culture of Israel," Weinberg said.