More fun with LISEL

I was happy to find friends, old and new, again at LISEL this past Friday. It seems like our numbers keep growing each week! We were grateful to have a Bulgarian friend, Kristina, cook Moussaka for us and then blow us away with her singing talent! I will try to post the video so that you can hear her Bulgarian folk song if the file isn't too large. I told her that I would buy her CD if she made one!

We also spent the evening discussing current world problems in smaller groups in order to present the issue to everyone at the end of the night as "journalists". It was interesting to hear the views of friends from all over on immigration, particularly from the many friends I have made from Senegal and Cameroon who study here and some of whom hope to eventually immigrate to the United States. One friend's view was that each person has a responsability to return to his home country in order to use the skills that he gains from his studies abroad to help the development of his country. The prevailing trend unfortunately is that the country loses its most talented people and a proportion of its population to other countries which offer higher salaries and more security, but one has to concede that it's hard to blame people for immigrating when their home country might not offer the same level of political and economic stability. Others took this second tack, sharing the opinion that the individual needs to make the most of his opportunities, even if it means losing part of his culture and close contact with family to immigrate. Immigration is a rather important issue here since about half of the resident population of the city consists of foreigners and immigrants- I hear people speaking Portuguese on the bus almost as much as I hear Luxembourgish. I wonder how this will affect the culture of Luxembourg in the future , but then again, it can be argued that all of history is a story of immigration and that cultures are always in evolution.

I ended up discussing the Arab-Israeli conflict with a friend from Algeria- that was an interesting conversation! Due to disagreement on the historicity of certain facts- some of which after a bit more research I have found are still being debated by scholars, such as the origin of the Philistine people who moved into the area at approximately the same time period as the Israeli tribes- we ended up agreeing to disagree. We had fun presenting the issue in playing extremists from both sides, though I'm not sure that I did justice since I'm not absolutely sure of the viewpoint of the far right in Israel. Whatever the case, I am always grateful to gain exposure to more of the world and to other perspectives!

Happy New Year!

I just wanted to write a quick update and to excuse my long silence! Although I try not to get too preoccupied with my coursework since I know that studies are not by any means Rotary's only goal for the Ambassadorial Scholarship, I have been a little busier with a final project and exams to prepare for!

I hope that this new year finds you all well! I decided not to come back to Texas for the holidays given that my break is relatively short and final exams start in January! I instead country-hopped to visit a friend, Hélène, and her family in Bordeaux for the holidays. She is studying abroad in Canada this year so I was grateful to get to see her(she originally came to stay with my family in Texas for a few months in summer 2006) and her family really made me feel at home! It was very interesting to discover French Christmas traditions! I was a little confused Christmas Eve when Hélène's mother asked me where my boots were until I realized that in France, everyone leaves a house slipper or a shoe out by the Christmas tree for when Papa Noël passes by. Other French traditions during the holidays are foie gras as an obligatory hors-d'oeuvre and wishing people a bonne année until the end of January. I will be heading back to Luxembourg on the 4th and final exams start the 12th!

I hope to share my camera-full of photos (especially those of Luxembourg-Ville and the University) with you soon with flickr, this hoping that it is more cooperative than photobucket has been! I am also hoping to find more service opportunities this semester (maybe teaching English or helping at the shelter for the sans-abri)! I will keep you updated!

Best Wishes for a Happy and Healthy 2009!

§ Erica

Thanksgiving Dinner Comes Early!

This Friday, I had the great pleasure of sharing Thanksgiving dinner with some international friends (about 25 of them!) at LISEL. As I said before, every Friday night someone cooks a traditional meal from their country, so I took the opportunity to share the meal and the holiday as close as I could to this Thursday! I was so grateful to have everything come out well since I am no expert chef (At home, I usually only make pies and sometimes branch out and make mashed potatoes during the holidays) and we also didn't have any measuring cups, metric or U.S., so it really was a near miracle! I have to give a big thanks to Marie (one of my French friends), Monique (Luxembourgish), Anto (Italian), and Edith (Armenian) for all of their help in the kitchen! Preparations started a day early since we were working with a small kitchen with a tiny oven and enough food for a small army. To add to it, many ingredients that we take for granted in the U.S., like canned pumpkin and cranberry sauce and cornbread mix, aren't available in Luxembourgish supermarkets, so we were starting from scratch most of the time! I didn't mean to impose my vegetarianism on everyone, but whole turkey's are hard to find this time of year in Luxembourg, so that was the one plate left out. On the menu were mashed potatoes, cranberry-apple sauce, stuffing, glazed ginger carrots, and pumpkin pie for dessert. "So, Americans do eat something besides hamburgers" was one of my favorite comments, made by a friend from Pakistan. I'm always happy to help disprove unjust stereotypes when it comes to American culture and traditions! It was fun to have to indicate that cranberry sauce is supposed to be served cold and that it's not usually for dessert, although without the turkey, that does make for a strange mix. I'm happy to say that I'll be sending out the recipe for pumpkin pie to a few friends!

Best wishes to you and your families this Thanksgiving! We always have so much to be grateful for!

Take care,
Erica

P.S. See the pictures posted above! (when they finally upload) ;)

The U.S. Election from Abroad

One of my favorite experiences here so far was the chance to see the U.S. election from abroad. I will admit that it's a strange feeling to see how caught up people from all over the world get about the election of the next president of our country- it makes me feel very privileged to be an American and even more conscientious to ensure that I made an informed vote. Thankfully, in this modern age, it is relatively easy to watch the debates in their entirety and follow the rest of the campaign online. I was excited about the election, if solely because at 20, it was my first time voting! I was relieved that my absentee ballot arrived in time for me to have a voice!

As I am sure that everyone is already aware, Obama was by far the most popular candidate in Europe, in part for the sole reason that he isn't from the same party as President Bush and in part because his views more closely match the more socialist-leaning European mindset. I was interested in the way that the European media portrays the U.S. election, and was reading Le Monde, a left-leaning French newspaper that the university library subscribes to, on a daily basis to get a better idea of their perspective and improve my French at the same time! "So McCain, or Obama?" was probably the question most frequently posed by foreign friends and people who I met in my first few months here when they learned that I was American. It was very interesting to discuss the platforms of the two candidates with friends just to see what they knew and it was fun to discover what stereotypes persist. Almost everyone I've met associates Texas with President Bush and the Republican party, so they are usually surprised to find out that it's not as homogeneous as that and that not all elected officials in Texas are necessarily Republicans. It was fun to show them a map of the presidential election by counties in the U.S. that owe thanks to my dad for sharing with me, just to give them a better idea of the existent political diversity. You can paste this link in your browser if you would like to see it!: http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/politics/interactives/campaign08/election/uscounties.html

Last night, I had the opportunity to share my perspective on the election at the LISEL dinner that I attend almost every Friday night. Just to give you the background, LISEL, an non-profit organization that I recently learned is supported by the Catholic Church, exists to help students with almost everything imaginable- from housing, to organizing outings, to finding service opportunities in the community, to giving students a context in which we can get together and share our respective cultures. There are about 40 students that participate in the dinners on Friday nights from all over, Luxembourgish students and many foreign students included. Each Friday, someone volunteers to cook a dish from their home country to share with the group and we discuss a topic- among which have been conflict in the world or the experience of being an immigrant in a European country- or someone shares a presentation of their culture and home country. I'm very grateful to participate- I will be making a traditional U.S. Thanksgiving Dinner next Friday (which will be fun to share and maybe make me a little less homesick during the holidays!) and giving a presentation on Texas the following Friday. After our discussion about the election last night, during which I was able to share a contrasting viewpoint on some of Obama's policies, I was tasked with explaining the electoral college system (which is very little understood here and the philosophy of which I myself need to refresh my knowledge a bit) during my presentation on the 28th. I'm excited to get to share! I will be sure to take and post some pictures of both events, so look for them later this month!

Thanks for reading! 'Til next time!

Take care,
Erica

The University- a Comparison

I just wanted to write my brief take on The University of Luxembourg, where I've been taking my classes now for two months, and U.S. universities since a comparison with the Air Force Academy would never end. For any of you who are curious about the U.S. service academy experience, I would be happy to share- I think I will write a quick blog on that subject soon for friends here who are curious and want to see pictures.

The University of Luxembourg is a relatively young University, established in 2003, and seems to be very well supported by the State in its fledgling stage - which makes it really nice to be a student here a lot of the time. The university has a student population of about 4000 bachelors, masters, and doctoral students, half of whom who are foreign students from all over the world, anywhere from China, to Cameroon, to Hungary, to close neighbors like Germany. The University's offer of coursework in French, German, and English, and offers inexpensive student housing to those in highest priority, which facilitates its highly international character. The university is currently divided into three campuses, Kirchberg for technical subjects like engineering, Walferdange for the arts, Limpertsburg, where I take most of my classes, for economics, law, and the natural sciences. I go to Walferdange twice a week for my French Linguistics class and for first semester Latin (taught in French, which makes things interesting). It's nice to take classes at both campuses- I am grateful to take most of my biology classes with the same small group of Luxembourgers since we've become friends and I feel like I'm getting to know the real Luxembourg better through them, but I also enjoy taking a few classes with the students in medicine and in the arts which tend to be a little more international.

One of the main differences that I've found between European and U.S. universities is the emphasis on specialization in Europe- no basic courses exist that don't pertain to one's major. For instance, the students in biology start out their first semester taking physics, geology, basic and organic chemistry, developmental biology, and cellular and molecular biology. As far as I know, the possibility of double majoring or taking classes in a sub-specialty (e.g. a minor), doesn't exist . In addition, everyone enrolled in a certain year of a certain major is obligated to take the same courses at the same time. At first, I found this strange until I realized that European students must choose an academic orientation in high school, allowing them to take more advanced courses and put a heavier emphasis on courses in "lettres" (humanities) or in "filière scientifique" (scientific field), for instance. This helps explain why a bachelors degree takes only three years to complete, since many students already have what we consider to be "basics" courses out of the way before starting college.

I hope you didn't fall asleep reading this! I'm looking forward to exploring the Marché de Noël (Outdoor Christmas market- which very typical of Europe starting this time of year) in one of the town squares on November 30th, so I hope that will prove to be an interesting read (with pictures!). Please feel free to comment, ask a question, or to suggest a subject that you'd like to hear about!

Take care,
Erica

Rotary Seminar in Paris- 9-11 Oct. 2008

Photobucket Album

(Click on the photo here to see the photobucket album!)

Paris Seminar Update- 12 Nov 2008

12 November, 2008

Oops! I saved this as a draft the first time! Thanks for pointing that out Dad!This entry regards the Rotary Seminar in Paris for "Inbound Scholars" October 9-12, 2008. Please check out the photobucket album posted earlier for photos!


12 October, 2008

I just got back from the Inbound Seminar held by Rotary International in Paris for all the scholars in France, Belgium, and Luxembourg which was a great time! I enjoyed meeting new friends and seeing some old ones two- two of the girls that I met at the outbound seminar in Austin last January, Kadyne and Heather, as well as another Japanese friend that I met in Brussels, Hajime, were there which was a nice surprise! The Rotarians of the two districts that encircle Paris were wonderful and treated us to a great seminar on how to better adapt to French (or for me, Luxembourgish) culture as and reminded us of our responsibilities as Scholars. We stayed at a youth hostel in the 5th arrondissement of Paris (otherwise known as the Latin quarter) and I thoroughly enjoyed getting to see a few of the less touristy areas of the city during my "hike" of sorts from the Gare de l'Est across the Seine, past the Centre Pompidou and the Notre Dame Cathedral, to our hostel. The beautiful thing about the TGV is that you can get to Paris from Luxembourg in two hours, which put me in Paris early enough to explore a little before check-in time at the hostel. We were asked to wear "traditional clothing" from our home country if possible to the introductory dinner the first night, so I took advantage of my cowboy boots and hat to the amusement of many. We all introduced ourselves on mic to the Parisian Rotarians who were kind enough to host us and the Japanese Scholars shared their talent in singing a famous folk song from Japan, Sakura. You can listen to the instrumental version here: http://de.youtube.com/watch?v=keF-KYKKYeI&feature=related

It was remarkable how many Scholars from this area are either Japanese or American- I'm not really sure how to explain this phenomenon, except that many of the Scholars from Japan are in Masters programs in the Arts, for which France is well known. With us were also a surgeon from India, Ping-Pong from Taiwan, and Francesca from Italy, which added a little diversity to the dynamic! I was especially excited to talk with Francesca who is working on here Masters on Developmental studies for French-speaking Africa and also was kind enough to give me a recipe for authentic Italian pasta sauce!

Saturday morning, we took a walking tour of the lesser-visited areas of Paris and competed in a scavenger hunt of sorts to discover more of the history and culture of Paris. During the tour, we discovered the Grandes Ecoles (the French analogue of Ivy League colleges), discussed the French Resistance during the German occupation during WWII, the best known "haute culture", and finished off with a typical picnic lunch of a "Paris-beurre" (baguette sandwich). My favorite part of the tour was learning that deer make a sound- the verb "brahmer" in French- maybe some of you out there who hunt can correct me, but up until now I thought deer were silent. We discussed how the existence of words like this reflect the values the people of the culture of the people who speak it. For instance, there is only one verb in Japanese for any sound that an animal can make- it would be like saying that a cat"meows", a dog "meows", a pig "meows"- there is no distinction at all between these sounds, which maybe reflects that animals are not as important to their culture. To better illustrate, the typical example is that the Eskimo language includes over 300 words for snow.

Other Saturday highlights were a boat tour on the Seine at sunset and a typical French dinner in a quaint restaurant that had been converted from a home. Sunday, we were invited individually to eat lunch at the home of a Rotarian, and I was grateful to have been invited to visit and dine with two very nice single Rotarians, Marie-Laure and Monsieur Largeaud.

During the weekend, I was especially happy to meet two Rotaract members from the Paris district who offered to get me in touch with the Rotaract in Luxembourg, which I had not heard of up until that point since Rotaract clubs in Europe are not typically attached to universities, like I had expected. Now when I reflect, it shouldn't have been surprising since it fits in well with the very different university culture in Europe- nowhere here will you find the analogue of an A&M/UT rivalry, intercollegiate sports teams, or the social life that revolves around a U.S. university. There are university towns, but the university itself usually serves an almost purely academic function, which isn't always a bad thing. The University of Luxembourg is a slight exception to the rule despite it's young age thanks to M. Carbon, the cultural director of the university and also one of my host Rotarians from Rotary Club Kiem, as their are many extracurricular programs organized by the university. I'm investigating the possibility of starting a Rotaract club attached to the university with the help of my host club.

More on this later!