ADULT SCHOOL STUDENTS GET TASTE OF EACH OTHER'S CULTURE.

Byline: Enrique Rivero Daily News Staff Writer

It was a small world in the Conejo Valley Adult School auditorium Thursday as students from nearly two dozen nations gathered for the annual International Fair.

In class, the English as a second language students in the school's International Club, which puts on the annual event, share a desire to learn the language of their adopted new homes. But at the fair they share the sights, sounds and tastes from their home countries, mixing music and dance with a smorgasbord of dishes in a festive event. Everyone comes away with a new appreciation for the lands from which their classmates hail.

More than 150 students attended this year's event, now in its 13th year. Twenty-two countries were represented with national dishes, dances and colorful costumes, said Debbie Hamer, the school's English as a second language coordinator.

``Our purpose is to do a cultural exchange, a goodwill exchange, among the students,'' she said. ``It's really not a big community event - it's meant as an educational event.''

The students were happy to share their cultures with each other. None was as happy as Hsien-yu Meng, a 73-year-old who came to the United States from China about 10 years ago.

Decked out in bright yellow garb with several feathers held to his forehead with a headband, Meng performed a Chinese line dance with several others from his homeland.

His object was to make everyone happy. ``If you're happy, I'm happy,'' he said.

He himself was dazzled by the swirl of color, the music and everything else characterizing the cultures represented at the fair.

``I enjoy other beautiful cultures,'' he said.

The countries represented were China, Taiwan, Iran, France, Germany, Ukraine, Russia, Romania, Armenia, Japan, Thailand, Cambodia, Vietnam, Korea, Mexico, Afghanistan, Colombia, Brazil, Chile, Peru, Argentina and El Salvador.

Juan Estrada didn't perform a dance from his native Mexico. Instead, he let his horse do the dancing for him.

Estrada, 21, put his Arabian horse named Bonito, Spanish for ``beautiful,'' through its paces in the parking lot in front of the auditorium to a highly vocal, appreciative crowd.

He wanted to show everyone something he learned while working ranches in Mexico with his father.

``Farmers always do this,'' he said. ``They teach them how to dance and how to lie down and catch cows.''

Just inside the auditorium doors a few feet away from the dancing horse, Dore Hirsch had spread out on a table all the makings of a typical German dinner. There was black bread and rye bread and Swedish bread; Black Forest salami, Westfalian ham and liver sausage; and a variety of cheeses, all laid out neatly on rapidly emptying platters.

And of course, there were the beers. ``Have you ever heard about the German beer?'' she asked, waving her hand toward a small row of bottles next to the dishes.

She herself was enjoying the colorful costumes, partly because she couldn't bring any from her own country to share with her classmates.

``In Germany we also have costumes, but you have to belong to a folk group, and I'm not in one, so we don't have costumes,'' Hirsch said.

Then she looked around the crowded auditorium. ``But look at all these beautiful costumes - it's so colorful.''

CAPTION(S):

4 Photos

Photo: (1--Color only in Conejo edition) Tanya Leyva, left, and Christina Gonzales wear clothing of their native Mexico.

(2--Ran in Conejo edition only--Color) Peter Huang and Kathy Borin perform the Chinese lion dance at the Conejo Valley Adult School.

(3-4--Ran in Conejo edition only--Color) Conejo Valley Adult School student Juan Estrada, left, and his dancing horse, Bonito, hoof it at the fair. Serving Japanese food, above, are Utako Asari, left, Fumiko Marakawa and Miyukai Kato.

Tina Gerson/Daily News