September 2004
September 29, 2004
Bulgarian Nurses Fate "Stumbles" Libya's Integration
The fate of the five Bulgarian nurses sentenced to death in Libya is major obstacle for Libya's integration. Next month, the European Unions ministers would decide whether or not to lift the embargo imposed on Libya 18 years ago. One of the main reasons for the hesitation that still exists is the still ongoing trial against the Bulgarian medics in the Northern African country.
Milen Dobrev: I Was Ready to Break Record, but Didn't Try Hard
Read the interview with the Bulgaria▓s second Olympic champion from this summer▓s Olympic Games in Athens. He managed to defeat all the odds and win the gold medal in the 94 kg class in the weight-lifting competition.
Taliban on the Road
Here is a really nice description of the conditions that exist on the roads in Bulgaria. The author▓s way of describing what driving a car in Bulgaria means is extremely sharp and up to the point. The fact that enraged him the most was that on September 15th hardly anyone had their car lights on (September 15th is the first school day in Bulgaria).
September 24, 2004
Ukraine company suspected of supplying Iraq with weapons
The article I suggest reading is entitled "Ukrainian company suspected of trying to send missiles to Iraqi insurgents". It deals with the dealings of a company accused of illegal activity and the reaction of the people in authority as far as this infamous matter is concerned. In fact, it is not the first time that Ukraine is suspected of weapon-dealings. However, you can never trust everything you hear completely as long as mass media has always been known as a great way of manipulating people's minds.
But form your own opinion after you`ve read the article
How the Ukraine tries to fight with terrorism
The piece of news I recommend is devoted to the countrywide Internet conference under the title "Terrorism in the contemporary world: Ukraine's input into the world struggle with terrorism" - In my opinion, the heading speaks for itself. As a matter of fact, terrorism has become the evil which threatens everyone regardless of color, age, origin, religious confession etc. And it is the reason why struggle against terrorism must become our common concern. The news also introduces a Ukrainian journalist who visited the USA on September, 11, 2001 and covered the news of the tragedy from New York City.
Interesting details about history and culture
This time I won't provide you with a particular information, but would like you to get acquainted with Ukraine's history and culture, because I suspect that few of you know more than the name of the country. Here you can take a plunge into the depth of the Ukrainian life starting with the old times and up to the present. The site enables you to find out various information depending on your interests and preferences, such as About Ukraine, Politics, Travel, Business, Culture, News etc. Moreover, here you are able to view maps of Ukraine as well as the pictures of the most famous resorts and those of the most prominent politicians of the country. Don't miss it!
Who Next? Ukraine's Opposition Leader Fears Murder
Right now, one of the hottest news in Ukraine is a presidential election which is going to happen at the end of October. Recently, one of the candidates (Yushchenko) was severely poisoned by some kind of chemical. Yushchenko said that danger may exist for others as well. This is widely discussed in Ukraine because Yushechnko has a lot of chances to become a next president of Ukraine.
Ukraine – New Funding for IOM Counter Trafficking Project
USA supports Ukraine in a fighting human trafficking. Sounds interesting, apparently, Ukraine is one of the most active countries in Europe that fights against trafficking.
Bubka leaves to stay
For many athletes it is hard to face that they have to leave their career but some of them never leave they are still involved in what they love. Like, Bubka who is a famous Ukrainian pole vaulter, after many years of competition is not going to participate anymore. Nevertheless he has some great plans ahead of him.
FIRST DAY OF SCARF BAN BRINGS UNITY
The Secularity law passed by Chirac’s government in March is highly controversial. This law prohibits the wearing of headscarves and other conspicuous religious signs. But the hostage crisis in Iraq is taking the heat out of the debate.
On August 20, a terrorist group called the self-styled Islamic Army of Iraq, kidnapped two French journalists. The terrorists claimed that if France did not revoke the headscarf law, the hostages would be killed. As a reaction to this unacceptable blackmail, most of the French Muslim leaders, even the most outspoken critics of the ban, urged the girls to obey the law.
In spite of many internal debates, the country seems to be unified when it comes face to face with terrorism.
REPUBLICANS SHOWING NO AMOUR FOR FRANCE
Just when we thought it was over…French-bashing is back! At least, it seemed to be the game to play at the Republican National Convention, just after Kerry-bashing of course. Apparently, Republicans have still not forgiven France for its anti-war stand last year and the long time US ally became their favorite target for jokes.
DEAUVILLE FILM FESTIVAL
Far away from political considerations, Deauville is hosting its 30th Festival of American Cinema. As it coincides with the 60th anniversary of the D-Day landings in Normandy, the Festival will honor Steven Spielberg with a retrospective of his films. Since 1975, this festival has witnessed (and maybe contributed to) the growth of the U.S. independent cinema.
Saddam Hussein applies for Exile in Sweden, Austria or Switzerland
Ever wondered what happened to Saddam Hussein? First of all he intends to run in the next Iraqi introduction, till then he wants to Sweden, Switzerland and Austria. One of his lawyers explains that one doesn`t have to be guilty to plead for clemency and all the accusations were ridiculous. Read, why the former Dictator pleads transfer to a neutral country under:
Sweden plans to lower liquor taxes to keep up with EU imports
All of you, you`ve ever been to Scandinavia, will have noticed the high price for Liquor. Here`s the good news: Scandinavia may lower his liquor taxes – by 40 percent. So far Sweden still has the highest liquor taxes in Europe - with the public health in mind. The Taxes in Denmark are 35 percent higher than for example in Germany. But the liquor sales are dramastically challenged by the new imports inside the EU. Read how soon Swedish liquor will be cheaper under:
Oktoberfest starts in Munich for the 171st time
“O`zapft` is” (“it`s tapped”)! On September 19th (the last day of the Mount Angel–Oktoberfest) the original Oktoberfest opened its tents on the “Theresienwiese” in Munich – under Bavarian white-blue sky naturally. 10 million people from all over the world are expected to visit the unique event. Only known as “Wies`n” (“lawn”) to Locals, Oktoberfest, had its origins almost 200 years ago, when Bavarian Crown prince, Ludwig I., married the beautiful Princess Therese von Sachsen-Hildeshausen. The festivities, consisting of horse races, a state fair and too much leftover beer began on October 17th, 1810. Since then Munich celebrates every year, but preponed the spectacle to September in the 1960s - because of better weather. After all it happens for three days that Oktoberfest is actually in October. The fifth season prevails until October 3rd.
German President thinks Germany should no longer strive for equal standards of living in East and West
A delicate subject has been touched, a heated debate aroused as German President Horst Koehler said in an Interview Germany should give up hope of achieving equal living conditions in the east and west. Koehler maintained that the east-west gap had to be accepted – as well as the north-south difference. German economy would never recover if politics kept trying to achieve equal standards of living everywhere.
While he spoke the mind of many Germans, the other side felt left in a lurch. After all it is hard to accept that Unemployment varies between 4 Percent (in Upper Bavaria) and over 20 Percent (in many Places in Eastern Germany).
Giant Football tours Host-Cities for Soccer-Worldchampionship
Two Years to go, but Germany is already in a rave about hosting the Soccer-Worldchampionship 2006. While Otto Shily is calculating tourism sales, a giant football is touring all German cities which host games – Munich, Hamburg, Berlin, Gelsenkirchen, Cologne, Nuremberg, Leipzig, Hannover, Frankfurt, Dortmund, Kaiserslautern, Stuttgart. Inside there are besides others the ball, that won Germany the Worldchampionship in 1954, the trophy from 1990 and David Beckham`s boots. The huge round-shaped exhibit, that delivers Museum at day, great light show at night, will stay two months in every city, starting and ending in Berlin.
Klinsmann is new “Bundestrainer”
When Rudi Voeller resigned from being the Manager of the German National Soccer Team after the European Championship the run to find a new “Bundestrainer” began. Many candidates and many disappointing denials followed. Names like Hitzfeld, Rehagel, Wenger and even Matthaeus were dropped and all of them were discussed as successor of the popular former striker “Ruuuuuudi”. Finally the “Deutsche Fußball Bund” (DFB) decided that Juergen Klinsmann a World-champion (1990) and European-champion (1996) was the right man to prepare the German National Soccer team for the World Championship 2006 in Germany.
Germany’s biggest car manufacturer faces several problems
Tough times for VW: Not only that the current hoped for investment deal with Abu Dhabi, which was going to buy 9.8 per cent VW shares, failed. Now the current VW CEO and former BMW CEO Bernd Pischetsrieder is facing tough negotiations with Germany’s most powerful worker’s union the IG Metall. These bad news let the VW shares drop.
Baden-Wuerttemberg celebrates 300 years Ludwigsburg Palace
The beginnings of this enormous Palace trace back to the wish of Duke Eberhard Ludwig von Wuerttemberg to build a hunting lodge back in 1704. A splendid military career as well as the desire to show his power in a magnificent scale were leading Duke Eberhard Ludwig to the plan to expand the Palace according to his imaginations.
Still discussions on war reparations
Although WWII is almost 60 years over there are still discussions whether Germany should pay reparations to compensate Polish people who suffered under the German occupation of Poland between 1939 and 1944.
The whole situation is aggravated by some former German property owners who were expelled from Poland after 1945 and now try to sue Poland at the European Court of Justice to get reparations themselves.
Should Turkey become member of the EU?
Against the background of the enlargement of the EU the question arises whether Turkey should be one of EU’s next member states. So far discussions were restricted to either a full membership or nothing at all. Could a “privileged partnership” for Turkey be a “third way” in that discussion or is it to less for a country that has been waiting for membership for 30 years?
Sony and Bertelsmann face a delicate union
In consideration of the fact that KaZaA and others precipitated a crisis in the music industry all big music labels sold less CDs in the last years. Finally world’s second largest music label, Sony, and its fifth largest label, Bertelsmann react on that situation and decided to form a joint venture which makes them the second-largest label in the world. The new label will have a share of 25.2 percent based on 2002 sales and thus get very close to world’s number one, Universal Music with a share of 25.9 percent.
Gains by Extremist Parties Trouble Germany
Last Sunday elections were held in Brandenburg and Saxony, two of Germany’s 16 states. Both states are located in East Germany (which used to be the German Democratic Republic until 1990 when Germany was reunified). Despite great efforts to boost the economy and to improve the standard of living in the former Communist part of Germany, the economic climate remains devastating and the unemployment rate has reached a record high of 18.5 %. Set against this background, the plans of the governing Social Democratic Party of Chancellor Gerhard Schröder to prune the welfare state have provoked anger especially among East Germans who fear they will be the “losers” in the ongoing economic reforms. Since the major opposition party – the Christian Democratic Union – supports the government’s plans on the whole, many voters showed their protest by voting for extremist parties, sparking fear that Germany’s image abroad may suffer damage.
Kerry Leads in the (World Opinion) Polls
If Germans were to vote in this years U.S. presidential election, incumbent president George W. Bush would get the boot. A poll shows that 74 percent of respondents would vote for Kerry, with only 10 percent supporting Bush. One of the reasons is probably that many Germans feel alienated by Bush’s doctrine of preemption and unilateralism.
'Human' Hitler disturbs Germans
The new German movie “Der Untergang” (“The Downfall”) stirs controversy among Germans. It presents Adolf Hitler not only as a merciless dictator but also as a human being with feelings.
Continously since the outbreak was first located in South Korea last December, H5N1, also known as the 'Bird flu' or 'Avian Flu' virus, has consistently spread throughout Asia. The virus hits Thailand big time! It has panicked the Thais greatly, a good many of our people stop eating chicken completely. And since the frozen chicken is on of our major exports, our economy has undoubtedly been affected by this outbreak. Recently, as you will be reminded in this news article, many Thai scientists have warned our government as well as our public about the possibility that this bird flu virus could be strengthened and eventually transformed to Human Flu, or Thailand Flu which could kill as many as 25 million people similar to what the Spanish Flu did in 1918.
As the US presidential election is coming up in less than two months, heated campaign of both parties are at its climax. There have been so many opinion polls conducted about people's favorite choice for the office.
These opinion polls are not just conducted across the nation, but worldwide as well. Now it's time to take a look at who do the Thai support for the upcoming election...WARNING: you might not want to read this if
you are a Democrat.
In a lot of discussions from my International Politics class, people often talk about the role of the United Nations in manipulating the current world. "the UN should do this, and why didn't the UN do something about that?" However, I find it a shocking surprise that a lot of people, once asked what they know about this worldwide organization, reply "Kofi
Annan, that's about everything I know." Clearly, the position of the UN Secretary General is very crucial. Therefore, I have chosen my news article that relates to this issue. It's about the upcoming election of
the UN Secretary General in 2006 to replace Mr. Kofi Annan. This extremely short piece of news talks about one of the declared candidates in this election, and he is our Thai Foreign Minister.
Important Dutch News
Every year on the third Tuesday of September the Minister of Finances publishes the budget for the next year. Obviously the department of Finances makes the budget (which is actually only a proposal, open for discussion), but Queen Beatrix is the one who gets to announce the major points. She does this in a speech in which she doesn’t only talk about the budget, but also looks back on the past year and (more importantly) ‘previews’ the coming year in general. This is important for our country, because the queen, or the monarchy in general, is one of the things that binds us as a ‘people’ – although not everybody agrees on the need for this tradition.
The article in the link explains Prinsjesdag (Prince’s Day) in general, the tradition and its workings. This year, there have been many protests because of the proposed cutbacks. The current Dutch government is kind of controversial, because of the way it was formed (details which I can go into some other time), so I think these protests don’t only reflect the feelings to this specific budget, but more the issues that have been going on since the last election.
I know politics aren’t the most fun thing to read, but I’ve looked around and found an article that’s actually understandable and almost fun. It really is a good introduction to some traditions, our political system and also some current major issues in Dutch news these last two or three weeks. It also features a link to a more detailed explanation on Prinsjesdag, the Golden coach, the ceremony and history.
Holland and America
Well, as you all know, New York was originally called New Amsterdam. And then some Dutch people were stupid enough to hand it over to the British and that’s the reason why I can’t write this news in my own language. Obviously, this last part is nonsense and a lot more stuff happened. But… I just found a nice article, which is about Holland being one of the first countries recognizing America’s independence in 1782 – very important!
So you’re probably thinking this is boring history and you know this already. But let’s skip forward to 2004. Apparently the John Adams institute revealed a nameplate in the guy’s honour (because he did a lot for US-Holland relationships back then) in Amsterdam. So I chose this article not only to emphasize Holland’s important role in American history but it also gives you another sight to see, if you ever decide to visit Amsterdam!
Entertainment/culture/sports
And more to read on our royal family, a very popular subject in Dutch gossip magazines. And actually, this is an article about The crown prince, Willem-Alexander, and his wife Maxima. For years the magazines would speculate about the prince, because he’s our future king, and it would be nice if the king had a queen on his side – and a kid later on. The thing was, he was getting older (nearing 30 – crucial age apparently) and he isn’t the most attractive guys around. So every time he had a girlfriend, the papers would immediately speculate about a possible wedding – they were almost getting desperate.
So you can imagine the joy when he became engaged with a beautiful Argentinean woman, Maxima Zorreguieta. They were really happy together and then trouble came looking for them. It appeared that Maxima’s father had supported the Argentinean fascist regime in the seventies and therefore people didn’t know if she was suitable to be our queen. After a lot of governmental debates they decided they could get married, but her father couldn’t come to the ceremony. A lot of stuff has happened since then, but they appear to be happy with each other; Maxima even gave birth to a daughter, Amalia, last year.
But here’s trouble again. After Alexander looked very chummy with Olympic swimmer Inge de Bruijn (he only hugged her after winning a medal) the gossip papers started speculating about problems in his marriage. So now the prince and his wife are looking for a way to sue the papers.
The sue itself isn’t that interesting, but this story gives you a good idea about the Dutch royal family and their problems. (When another prince got married there were issues about his future wife too – she’d known a famous Dutch criminal in the 90s and they’d lied about it. In the end, the prince had to give up his royal title and right to the throne).
Bronze Zeus Surprises Bulgaria
Bulgarian archaeologists excavated a bronze head believed to be that of the Greek deity Zeus. The head was discovered near the city of Shipka, near the location of another Thracian. The finding confirms that Bulgaria is a key territory of interest for modern archeology - a gold mask, weighing half a kilo and made of pure gold, alongside a ring, were discovered in August by the same team of archeologists.
Bulgaria Fought for Independence 30 Years
September 22 is the day on which Bulgaria celebrates its complete independence from the Turkish Empire. After 500 years of oppression, in 1878, Bulgaria gained its liberation but nevertheless the newly created kingdom remained under the authority of the Empire. September 22, 1908 formally ended the dependency, making Bulgaria a full-fledged European State.
FBI Priest Settled in Bulgaria
64-year-old Arthur Brook Ballard Jr., a former US police and FBI officer, has settled down in Stara Zagora, Bulgaria. For 25 years he was a priest. First he was employed in the police and then worked for the FBI, having graduated from Theology School and Police Academy. He believes that priests should be employed in the Bulgarian police as well.
September 20, 2004
Hello!
I’m Olga Sakhnova. I’m from the peninsula in the southern part of Ukraine which is called Crimea. It is a really beautiful place with wonderful landscapes and seascapes (of the Black Sea) and some unique species of fauna and flora. Well, yes, I start feeling homesick.
Strange as it may seem, my mother tongue is Russian, not Ukrainian. If you want the answer to it, you’d better ask history. To cut a long story short, Crimea used to belong to Russia till 1954, when it was granted to Ukraine. Nowadays, there are over 100 nationalities inhabiting the Autonomous Republic of Crimea, Ukrainians, Russians, Tartars, Greeks, Armenians, Germans, Italians in particular.
In my home country I study foreign languages: for me it is English and German. Here I hope to acquire some Spanish and French too. I’m really happy to study at Willamette this year as it provides me with a great opportunity to get to know customs and traditions of America and those of other countries my new friends come from. It gives me an excellent chance to look at my culture from another point of view and, of course, to meet you all here on campus.
This semester I'm going to cover news from Ukraine and probably from Russia. If you are Russian language or Russian literature major, or if you are a politically-minded person, or both, you are welcome to the Ukrainian-Russian pages of Willamette World Views.
For Internet Explorer user: to read the text below in Ukrainian, please go to the view tab in the Main Menu bar and select Encoding: unicode.
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Hi,
I am Zhanna. Originally I am from Ukraine, a country located in Eastern Europe. At present it is an independent state. When I was born 1985, it was a part of the Soviet Union. Historically, Ukraine had not been independent until 1991. The city – Uzhgorod, where I lived for about 15 years is right on the border with Hungary and Slovakia. Years ago, Uzhgorod used to be a part of Austro-Hungarian Empire and part of Czechoslovakia.
After World War II when the Soviets crossed the land, Uzhgorod became a part of the Soviet Union. Now, it is Ukraine. Nevertheless, because of its location the city is very diverse. It is kind of cool because people there are have different background and culture, and speak varieties of languages. Nationalities that live there are Hungarians, Slovaks, Check, Polish, Romanians, Germans, Russians, Ukrainians and few more. The official language in Ukraine is Ukrainian. Russian is sure understandable and spoken a lot in Ukraine. When I was little I spoke Russian at home, but 1990’s when I had to go to school, I had to learn Ukrainian. Ukrainian and Russian are not the same languages. They have some common characteristics such as alphabet because they are Slovak languages, however, they sound different.
It is probably enough about on history; if something else comes up I will definitely write.
I moved to the United States, Portland, OR about 4 years ago. Went to high school, liked it, enjoyed, learned… and decided to check out colleges. I did and now I am here a sophomore at Willamette University, liking, enjoying, learning and writing for the World News.
If some days (most likely every day) it is raining and you feel like drinking your hot tea and reading something Interesting and Educational such as news, but you don’t feel like reading Salem newspapers or just sit and watch TV, you want something different, like knowing what’s happening in other parts of the world, you are at the right spot. We will try to make it as fun, interesting, entertaining and educational as possible.
Hope all of you had a great summer and is having a good school year so far. Smiles
Hi everyone!
My name is Morgane Bellanger and I’m from France. I’m going to be the French teaching assistant for the year. I was born in 1981 and
grew up in the countryside in a little village near Fontainebleau. I moved to Evry, in the suburbs of Paris six years ago. I’m finishing my Masters
in American and British civilization in the capital.
What can I say about my lovely country? We are almost 60 million (well, well…that’s a lot of bread-eating, beret-wearing, wine-drinking,
bike-riding, always-on-strike French men to handle don’t you think?). We have a long history, filled with kings, wars, revolutions, customs and
traditions. It’s a country of astonishing diversity in landscapes and people.
It’s the first time I’ve been so far way from my home and family. This year is like a personal challenge to me: I want to see if I can make it on
my own. I’ve been dreaming about spending some time abroad for years and I still don’t realise I’ve finally done it. I can’t believe how nice and
friendly people are here. Everybody in Willamette made it easier for me to get used to my new life (I must confess that seeing people smiling is a
noticeable cultural difference between here and the Parisian subway!).
I’m very glad to take part in a project like the Willamette World News because
what I’m expecting from this experience abroad is to open my mind on other cultures and to share with others how much France means to me.
Continue reading "Morgane Bellanger"
Hi everyone,
My name is magdalena eriksson, and i am a pretty friendly viking from the beautiful southern part of sweden.
The reason i came to oregon was, besides the fact that willamette is a fun school, to be somewhat closer to
my canadian boyfriend.
Continue reading "Magdalena Eriksson"
Hi there,
I am Maren from Murnau, the most beautiful place outside of Oregon. This little town in Bavaria is situated between a lake - the "Staffelsee", the Murnauer Moor and the Alps. And its also close to Munich, where I study Law, Media Science and American Studies. I left my picturesque home to become the German TA at no less picturesque Willamette University.
As a libra (my birthday is on October 16th, hint, hint) to exhibit I am in strong need of harmony and really easy to enthuse. This can be testified by everyone, I have been annoying for the last month with: "Loving this, love that." But I can`t help it - the people are amazing, the campus unique and the landscape breathtaking. The only thing I miss - apart from my sister Mi, my parents and my friends, of course - is German bread and real beer, but we`re on that. I will have an awesome time here and working on Willamette Worldnews will be a part of it. I hope you`ll habe as much fun reading our contributions as we`ve making them.
Continue reading "Maren Heussle"
Moin,
my name is Jan, I am a 23 year old German law student from Hamburg and „Moin“ is the way to say “Hi”, “Good morning”, “Good day”, “Good afternoon” and “Good night” in Hamburg.
Although I study law in Hamburg - the “northern Venice” with even more bridges than the original - at Bucerius Law School for two years now, I would like to point out where I spend the first 21 years of my life. This is where I am originally from, the beautiful south of Germany, where the nicest of its sixteen states, Baden-Wuerttemberg, is located. Here in Schwaben I was born in the university city of Tuebingen and raised in my small, but nice, hometown Pfullingen.
After graduating from school and serving the state with civilian service I moved to Hamburg. And now I am spending my fall semester as part of an exchange program here at Willamette University College of Law in Salem. During these five months I am trying to get to know the American legal system as well as the American culture and countryside.
I think that’s all for now.
Jan
Continue reading "Jan Krauss"
Hi there,
my name is Stefan Frick. I am 23 and a third year law student from Germany. For this term I am taking part in an exchange program between my home university Bucerius Law School and the Willamette College of Law.
After my Abitur (A-levels equivalent) I spent a year with my civilian services for the protestant church at the university hospitals in Tuebingen, very close to my hometown in the south of Germany.
During that time I decided to study law and consequently moved to Hamburg - Germany’s second largest city - about two years ago to attend a relatively young privately financed law school.
I am interested in politics, economy and sports, but most of all in history wherefore I hope to be able to comment on some interesting issues in the oncoming weeks and months.
Continue reading "Stephan Frick"
Hi!
My name is Christoph Heuer, I’m 22 years old, and I’m a law student from Germany. One of my reasons to come to Willamette was the prospect of an internship at the courts here in Salem. Since I didn’t know much about the American judicature (I guess watching Grisham movies and “Matlock” doesn’t count), seeing American law in action was a very interesting experience. The jury trials were especially interesting since we don’t have juries in Germany.
When I go back to Germany in December, I’ll continue my studies at Bucerius Law School in Hamburg. In my opinion, Hamburg is one of the nicest cities in Germany. With more than 1.7 million inhabitants, Hamburg has a rich cultural scene and offers a lot of opportunities for students to have fun. Some of you may have heard of the (in-) famous Reeperbahn…
My home town is Porta Westfalica, a small town in the north-west of the state of North-Rhine Westphalia. I went to High School in the neighboring city of Minden and graduated from Ratsgymnasium (hey, stop smirking) in 2001. After serving my required time in the military, I went straight to law school. Okay, I guess that’s me in a nutshell. If you want to learn about me (honestly, who doesn’t? *cough*) you can visit my website: www.christophheuer.de.If you have any questions, feel free to contact me.
Christoph
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Hello,
I am Tom from Southhampton, England. I am 23 and study art history at the Plymouth University in Exeter.
The ISEP-Exchange program enabled me to spend a year studying in Willamette. I am staying in Kappa Sigma.
Hello,
I am Tom from Southhampton, England. I am 23 and study art history at the Plymouth University in Exeter.
The ISEP-Exchange program enabled me to spend a year studying in Willamette. I am staying in Kappa Sigma.
Hi,
I'm Maaike, 22 years old, and I'm from the Netherlands (in Europe), AKA Holland. I've lived in the capital Amsterdam for 3,5 years. Most people immediately think about drugs, and yeah that is a large part of Amsterdam life... for tourists... Luckily a lot of people who went there also know about the great architecture, lovely (smelling) canals, called grachten, and museums. Most Dutch students hang out in bars and enjoy a wide variation of nightlife - we even have a church turned into a concert hall/discotheque! A lot of people here ask me why I traded Amsterdam for Salem and I'm wondering myself too... No, just kidding.
I went on vacation to NYC, San Francisco and Orlando four years ago and since then I've wanted to come back and experience daily life. Also, my major is Television studies and the USA is probably the best country to study that medium. So here I am, doing rhetoric studies, which is NOT what I'm used to and until now I haven't experienced the Media studies part, but that's okay, because I don't even have a TV.
But apart from that, I'm having a great time at WU and wish I could stay for more than one semester. I'm meeting a lot of nice people, doing fun stuff, making trips and drinking too much coffee. Being the only Dutch representative, I'll be contributing to the WWN regularly, so everyone can get to know a bit more about my country (including me).
Continue reading "Maaike de Bie"
Hello!
My name is Iman Al-Baqsami and I’m from a little country in the Middle East called Kuwait. When I’m in Kuwait I live in the capital, the ever-vibrant Kuwait City, which looks out on the beautiful Persian Gulf. I have been very fortunate to grow up in such a diverse culture. The population of Kuwait is 2 million, and over half of the population is non-Kuwaiti (foreign). I am also proud to be half-American. I was born a few blocks from campus, right here in Salem, Oregon! My mother is also a full-blooded American.
I’m a junior here at Willamette and a Politics major. For the past three years I’ve enjoyed learning about American culture and sharing my own experiences with others. This has been both interesting and rewarding. One of my goals while I am here is to clear any misconceptions about Arabs and offer my own insight on current events in that region. I know I have a unique perspective on things and I don’t mind sharing what I know! I look forward to providing interesting and insightful articles through Willamette World News. And during these times, there should not be a shortage of topics to cover!
Hi,
my name is Naoko Kasakoshi. I am a transfar student from Tokyo International University in Japan. Now I am a junior and my major is
Rhetoric and Massmadia Studies.I am excited to join this group to share our own country's news. Hope, through this project, you will get some
intersts about Japan! thanks!
Hi,
My name is Aekaraj Guruvanich, however, I figured that it would be much easier to have people called me by my nickname which is "Raju." As an exchange student from Thailand on campus, in Kappa Sigma to be exact, I must say that I am certainly having a memorable time here at Willamette.
I have found people here to be awfully friendly, which really makes my life here much easier. And since I have had a bunch of people come and talk to me who showed their interests in learning more about my country, culture, and perspective, I have engaged myself into this program organized by the wonderful Language Learning Center. I'm really looking forward to contribute to this Willamette Community, and of course, I am also, and always, looking forward to the weekend, just like everybody
else.
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Hello,
I am Janelle Yu, from mainland China. I have been living in the United States for four years. I got my undergraduate degree from Bob Jones University in Greenville, SC.
I majored in International Business, and my minor was Spanish. I would not claim that I know Spanish very well, but I do speak Chinese and English pretty fluently. I am a first year MBA student at Willamette.
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My name is Cristina Castillo. I am the new Spanish assistant for this year. I was born in Quito on December 18th, 1983. Quito, along with few cities in the world, was declared a Cultural Patrimony of Humanity by UNESCO over 25 years ago. I was on my second year of Tourist Administration before coming to Willamette. I have spent almost all my life in Quito though I’ve also had the privilege of living for a couple years in the Ecuadorian Amazonian jungle, in the city of Puyo.
Coming to Willamette has been quite a challenge to me and at the same time a lifetime opportunity since it’s the first time I live by myself away from my family. I am a person with strong family and moral values. I have acquired them thanks to God and to my family, particularly because of my mother and my aunt. They both have been by my side whenever I needed them.
I have a younger brother. He is 15 years old and he is a very important person for me, besides my cousins Carlos, Luis and Fernando from whom I have received a lot of support. I am here at Willamette for two reasons. First of all, because one of my cousins (Carlos Moncayo) went to Law School and he told me about the program WU has for language assistants. Second, I have great interest in learning as much as I can from new cultures. Throughout my life I have had to face several unexpected challenges and responsibilities that have taught me the importance of self and professional accomplishment.
Welcome!!
Continue reading "Ana C Castillo"
Hi all,
I’m Rafael Sandoval, one of the new Spanish languages assistants for the
academic year. I was born and raised in Ecuador (South America) - my home
city is Guayaquil, is the biggest city in my country, is near the coast and it is a really hot city, but beautiful as well.
I apply for the tutoring program last year and that’s why I’m here… I really like Willamette, it’s very different form Guayaquil, but it has
been a good change!!!
Continue reading "Rafael Sandoval"
Hello!
My name is Rositsa Atanasova and this is my second year at Willamette. I am twenty years old and I am from Bulgaria. This is my fourth year in the United States. After finishing tenth grade in Bulgaria, I transferred to a Boarding School called Fryeburg Academy, situated close to the boarder between Maine and New Hampshire. I spent two years there before coming to Willamette.
My time here has been very enjoyable and meaningful. I have declared a major in Classical studies - an unusual academic path that surprised my family and friends immensely. Nevertheless, exactly these different perspectives on life that my college experience has given me are my biggest treasure.
I come back to World News after a year of experience with the publication. I believe that the work that we are committing ourselves to is indeed significant and noble. Despite the current age of globalization, the beauty of the world is in its very diversity, in the uniqueness of each nation and in each individual that represents that nation. We work to make diversity the basis of admiration and understanding, not of separation. I hope that when we paint our pictures of the world, you will enjoy them as much as we do!
Hi, there!
I can start with the same words as last year, after spending two short months back home in Bulgaria, I am finally back in my beloved Salem. As a matter of fact, I started to miss Salem just a little bit at the end of my stay back in Europe, but now since school started with full force I wish I was enjoying myself back on the nice and warm sands of the Black Sea. The summer in Europe as you may have heard was unusually cold and there were just a few days of real sunshine but I think I managed to enjoy them completely. I will not tell you the whole story about myself, if you want to read it, you may want to look in the archives from the fall of 2002, and there you can find a short summary of my biography.
I guess I have to tell you more about my summer and the several moths preceding it. My summer was fantastic and I had great time back with my friends and family. I even managed to visit Turkey, a country about 50 miles from my home town, but also a destination I had never visited before. The experience was completely new for me, but I managed to fully enjoy it. I did some hiking with my friends, went to the mountains with my family for a week, visited several interesting caves and most importantly managed to rest, something that I was not able to do in the 9 months I spent working and studying at Willamette. I will talk about school as little as I can. At the end of last year I decided to do a double major, both in Economics and Mathematics, so now I am enjoying myself with two Math classes and a Computer Science class. So, now I am having fun doing matrices and vector.
Sadly, almost all of the exchange and international students from last year left for their home countries and are not coming back to Willamette for this school year. I believe they were the thing that helped me go through last year and I want to thank them for that. Everybody was great and I wish one day I will be able to go around the world and meet with all of them once again. Fortunately, there is a new group of people from around the globe here this year, and I guess you will find out more about them if you read all of the other articles in this first Worldnews issue. So far, I have known them for two weeks but I truly believe that every single one of them is really nice, we have had a really great time and I am really looking forward to another exciting year of adventures.
