Eight new bombshells enter the Nest. Will they find love or rejection at the Love Island-inspired blind dating event presented by the Sri Lankan Students Association (SLSA) in collaboration with Students of the Caribbean (SOCA) at UBC? I’m not sure whether love was in the air, but the smell of popcorn definitely was.
The audience, positioned to watch the two chairs where our contestants would sit, was lively before the show began. Conversation grew louder as organizers handed out hand-cut squares of paper — green and red ‘flags’ that the audience would need no encouragement to wave in the air throughout the night as we booed, laughed or applauded. Before long, the show had begun, our hosts Savindya Mudadeniya and Sadila Jayasinghe guiding the first pair of blindfolded participants stumbling to their chairs.
Each pair of hopefuls — mostly friends of club members who had been coerced into participating — would be asked a series of questions by the hosts, and could ask their potential match questions as well. The audience would chime in occasionally but, for the most part, we played the role of rowdy onlookers as couple after couple answered questions like, “What is your ideal date? What is your biggest red flag? What is the pettiest reason you have ghosted someone?” By question three of the first pair, the crowd was booing, hands holding up a wave of red flags as the bachelor explained his love for feminist literature.
After a few questions, it was time for the pair to decide if they had hit it off enough to match. With the singles still wearing their blindfolds, the hosts counted down from three. If both participants put their thumbs up, it was a match, an in-person swipe right. If someone hadn’t felt the chemistry, they would put their thumb down.
It’s up to the matched couples what happens after the show. Though Jayasinghe expressed his hopes that the matches would lead to some romance in the long run, it seems that, at the very least, all the participants made some new friends.
The show put all the embarrassing, funny, flirty and irritating aspects of a talking stage onstage; presenting all the nuance found in the situationship text threads we have all experienced and passed around to our friends to judge.
Each pair had its own unique dynamic. Conversation flowed from pastimes and career aspirations to deal breakers and zodiac signs. One couple failed to match because the boy said he wouldn’t dab at the girl back at a grocery store, which turned out to be her deal-breaker. One bachelor responded to being questioned about his zodiac with, “I was born in the year of the pig,” making the crowd laugh out loud.
Inspiration for the event came from a similar matchmaking show the Comedy Club hosted, which executives of the SLSA attended. They added their own twist by making it Love Island themed — inspired by the popular reality dating show — because Sri Lanka is an island country. Staying on the island theme, they decided to collaborate with SOCA.
“There was a little lag where [SOCA] wasn’t involved at the beginning” because of difficulties getting connected. “But after that, they helped out with interviewing the participants” and other tasks that went into planning the event. “I hope to [involve them in] the process from beginning to end next time,” said Viduni Ariyawansa, co-president of the SLSA.
A lot of work went into matching up the pairs, including an interview process, “so we [could] match them up better that just randomly pairing up people,” said Jayasinghe, one of the hosts and co-president of the SLSA. Interviews were conducted in collaboration with SOCA and ensured that everyone participating would be respectful and good sports.
Ironically, none of the participants were Sri Lankan, according to SLSA. “That just proves that all our events are well-attended [by non-Sri Lankans] and very diverse. It's not only about Sri Lanka but we also aim to bring awareness to our island,” Mudadeniya, creative director and one of the founding presidents of the SLSA, said.
Ariyawansa added that while some of the SLSA’s events are tied closely to their culture, they all also “want all of [their] friends to come and have a good time.” Mudadeniya attributed this to “Sri Lankan hospitality.” Many members, though Sri Lankan by heritage, grew up in Canada. Events are aimed at raising awareness about Sri Lankan culture, but are also designed to be fun for those completely unfamiliar with it.
This held true for the event as well. The audience and participants were culturally diverse, celebrating something shared between all of us — the awkwardness of getting to know someone new. However, the SLSA is proud of the cultural group the club represents, and the success of the event made me agree with Mudadeniya’s claim that “islanders do it best.” It also showed how much the club has grown from its origins as a ten-person “mixer at the life building” in the year since it was founded.
Whether or not anyone found true love at SLSA’s Love Island event is questionable (though, for the sake of romance, I hope so), but the event was a great time regardless. Perhaps the SLSA will make it an annual tradition, featuring a where-are-they-now segment for successful contenders. If so, stay tuned for the next season!
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