International Programs Photo Contest 2009

Below are the entries in the Owls Abroad category for the 2009 International Photo Contest. Students were asked to share their best shots of  themselves and peers abroad. We are looking for photos that will make others want to study abroad, shots that make a statement about their experience or shows them interacting with the host culture.

Vote for your favorite photo below! Winners will be displayed at the Global Temple Conference on November 17 in the Howard Gittis Student Center, and on the International Programs website.

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60 Summers in Paris

 By Dr. Ruth Thomas

Photo by Jake Tompkins

The Sorbonne Study Program, the longest-running Temple University study abroad program, celebrates its 60^th anniversary in summer 2010. For the past six decades, program participants have taken advantage of both intensive in-class language instruction at the Sorbonne and life in the great city of Paris, to further their study of French language and culture. Here, Program Director Dr. Ruth Thomas writes about the vibrant summer life in Paris that students experience beyond the classroom walls.  

Paris is relaxed and laid back in July and August, and the hectic pace is slower with the warmer weather. But Paris also “swings” in the summer. The Bastille Day celebration with its impressive military parade down the Champs-Elysées, spectacular fireworks, and balls at the neighborhood firehouses on July 13 and 14th, bring tourists from every country and are known to all. Equally famous is the Tour de France which ends in Paris on the Champs-Elysées. Paris Plages transforms some of the banks of the Seine into “beaches” with sand, palm trees, deck chairs, beach games and even boating, and the Festival Quartier d’été offers free music, dance and theater performances in various “quartiers” or neighborhoods. The Festival Cinéma en plein air, an outdoor film festival at the ultra modern Parc de la Villette, offers free outdoor screenings in the late evening. And again for cinephiles, there is a Paris Cinema Film Festival with tickets costing only 5 euros at theaters and outdoor venues throughout the city. There are boat rides to take on the Seine and the Canal Saint-Martin, art exhibitions at almost every museum from the medieval Cluny to the modern Centre Pompidou, photography exhibitions at numerous galleries, bikes to rent on many streets, and cafés with their open terraces where you can sit for hours and relax. And last but not least are the semi-annual “soldes,” the sales that will let you keep up with fashion at more affordable prices.

Living Leipzig, The People of a Former East German City

By William Cook 

German culture is something that many American’s do not completely understand. The culture of the former East Germany (D.D.R.) is something even more complex and interesting; proud, resilient people, immersed in art and entertainment. As a German student, I grew up learning about the beauty of Bavaria, the industry of the Rhineland and the grandeur of Neuschwanstein. What I never learned until visiting Leipzig last summer was what happened when the wall actually fell. I don’t mean what changed architecturally, politically or economically, rather what happened to the people as the world as they knew it changed overnight.

Leipzig is now a city of diversity. Foreigners, however, are greeted with both open arms and rejection. The city is home to countless restaurants featuring Indian, Turkish and East Asian cuisine, yet nearly all of the people on the streets and in the cafes, bars and restaurants are of European descent. In addition, a large number of “punks” and the occasional Neo-Nazis roam the streets. But this is to be expected of a city that was repressed for so many years. We witnessed at least one large demonstration of Neo‐Nazi youth in neighboring city Dresden, although it ended quickly after it began. It must be said that this act was a rare occurrence and by no means represents the majority of the people. It does show the conflict and struggle that still goes on today, despite tremendous progress and democratization.

This progress has made Leipzig a modern city, yet it is impossible to forget the past. One of my favorite experiences was the Zeitgeschichtliches Forum found in the Altstadt (old city). Literally meaning the Contemporary History Forum of Leipzig, this deceivingly large museum is dedicated to the Socialist period of East Germany that grew out of the original Soviet Zone established after World War II. Full of artifacts, interactive displays, recreated houses and offices, countless video clips and sound bites, it painted a picture of a world under constant surveillance, but one with its own culture and movements. There was music, film and art being created; it was just under ‘big brother’s’ watchful eye.

Today, Leipzig is a city in stark contrast to its former self. Powered by green energy (the German state of Saxony in which Leipzig lies uses wind, nuclear, solar and geo‐thermal energy to produce 40% of its power needs). Its 500,000 citizens utilize a network of trams, hybrid busses and efficient intercity trains to commute to and from work. Unemployment remains high (as it historically has in the east); yet social benefits ease the burden of being jobless. I always noticed an unusually high number of people in orange jumpsuits surveying streets and train lines. Is Leipzig a city of engineers or were the individuals just part of a state run employment agency to keep people in work?

Whatever the case may be, many people I spoke with during my time in Leipzig remembered the days when everyone was guaranteed a job…. something some were still bitter about. Yes, times were tough and people had very little, yet it was something that Leipzigers had grown to understand and accept. It was their comfort zone. This is what really changed when East met West. Suddenly, generations of people were at a crossroads and forced to adapt, modernize and most importantly westernize. The older generations made me realize that not everyone had done so. The oldest generations were comprised of savers, which held onto the culture they lost and wore the same clothes they did when Reagan asked Gorbachev to “tear down that wall.” On the other hand, the youngest dressed in the latest fashions (although socks and sandals are still somehow acceptable), spoke better English than most Americans, and traveled the world studying and vacationing.

Conflict? Somewhat. Was it a problem? No.

Leipzig was catapulted into a new world and how it affected the city’s residents is fascinating. As of today I am applying for a Fulbright to return to Leipzig and learn more about the people and the city that I left behind a year ago. Yes it is a beautiful city, the resting place of Bach, and a historical treasure, but in my opinion it is the people and their stories that make Leipzig a truly fascinating treasure.

 

Groove to Move

 By Vanja Pejic

After weeks of planning, organizing the venue, getting the DJ, collecting donations, and marketing the event, it was finally time to make the dream come true and raise money for the Linawo Children’s Home.

About a month ago, I had an opportunity to spend a day with the children from Linawo Children’s Home in Cape Town, South Africa. An orphanage with 16 children, ages 5 month to 13 years old that was forced to move out of their existing home due to funding. Because of this circumstance, their only choice was to move into a one room dilapidated house with no indoor plumbing, ceiling that is ready to collapse, lack of electricity, clean water, bed space but most importantly little space for children to be children. However, no matter how bad things got, these 16 children were the most joyful, loving, caring group I have ever met. Soon after meeting them, I knew that I had to help them in any way I could. After speaking with the Linawo Children’s Home director, she informed me that while they did find a new home for the children to move into, Linawo did not have enough funding to buy the home. News, of this broke my heart, but more importantly it triggered me to do something to help these 16 beautiful children in any way I knew how.

After going home that day, my roommates and I decided that we wanted to play a part in buying a new home for the Linawo Children. After a couple meetings with various venues and donors, “Groove to Move” came to life; a fundraiser at a local bar/restaurant in Cape Town that would collect money through entrance ticket, raffle and local donations. Goal of “Groove to Move” was to raise as much money as we can by encouraging both Study Abroad students as well as University of Cape Town students to attend our event.

Finally, after all the planning the night was an absolute success! Music, food and atmosphere all came into place! We not only had Study Abroad students attend, but other University of Cape Town students as well as local Cape Tonians. While our main goal was to raise as much money as we can for the Linawo children, it was just as exciting to see over 200 people from different backgrounds, cultures and lifestyles came together for this one night. Furthermore, not only were we able to raise money, but raise awareness for homes like Linawo that are struggling to stay open and have little means of supporting over 2 million children that are orphaned in South Africa.

Our $1000, or some R10, 000 will not buy the Linawo children a new home, however it will play a small role in helping them get one step closer to having clean water, indoor plumbing, individual beds and a place to call home. More importantly it gave us, Study Abroad students from all across the world as well as local students an opportunity to come together for one night and together make a difference. This experience will forever be one of my proudest moments and I cannot wait until the day when the children move into their new home!

**News update, while it has been months since our event was organized, a new group of study abroad students has come together to raise money for Linawo Children Home. The tradition continues! : )

Happy Birthday, Big Mama

By Sade Adeyina

Yesterday my friend Momo and I had the luckiest night of our lives.  Seriously.  It was the last night of the 3 day celebration of Rome’s first house of blues, Big Mama.   Talk about being misinformed! We were under the impression that it was a jazz club, so we were really shocked when the first performer strumming on the guitar started playing familiar blues tunes.

But first, let it be known that the most difficult bus to catch in Rome in the 23. It’s just HARD because it only comes once in a blue moon, especially when u really need it to come.  So we left extra early preparing to wait at least 30 minutes to catch this stupid bus that would take us to the hallowed area of Trastevere (a charming place with restaurants and bars often overrun by obnoxious tourists).   But, as luck would have it, after not even three minutes we almost died of shock when the bus came barreling our way! 

But we got lost. We got off at the right stop, yeah, but Trastevere is full of winding side streets.  Good thing it was a beautiful night.  Empty streets didn’t sway us.  We asked for directions and everyone was pretty sweet about it.  And since I now understand directions in Italian, it was so cool for someone to say “a fondo a Via San Marco, girare a destra,” and I would know to turn right at the end of the street.  

Eventually we found our way to Big Mama.  Even after getting lost almost 40 minutes out of our way we were STILL early (mainly thanks to catching the 23 bus immediately)!  The guy in the ticket booth was really nice and we bought memberships to the club for 13euro (not bad considering that we could now go to future shows for free).  Although we didn’t book a table and had to stand the whole time, the show was AMAZING!   I always liked blues music and old school rock and roll, but hearing it all live just made it that much more wonderful.  Even though majority of the performers sang in English, there was one blues artist who sang in Italian. It was really beautiful! 

The majority of the crowd was older but there were some younger Italians in attendance.  Overall it was a wonderful night and we didn’t leave until the very end. 

Fanta, Fanta

By Mary Coyle

Things I do in Italy that I don’t really do at home:

1) Drink Fanta. Italy loves Fanta – and now I do too. (For the uninitiated, Fanta is really just orange soda.) I drink it almost as much as caffe. It’s fruity and delicious and completely unhealthy and I love it.

2) Go a month without drinking milk. I had my first glass of milk since getting here the other day. Megan and I finally decided to brave the unknown at the GS and get a liter of the green kind. I’m still  alive, so I guess it was ok.

3) Eat fungi. I’ve been eating a ton of vegetables that I usually refuse to touch at home – onions, spinach, mushrooms, etc. We’ve been doing alot of stir fries with pasta and chicken, and surprise! It actually ends up being delicious. All I had to do was decide to live in a country where I can barely communicate with people before I decided to eat whatever gets put in front of me.

4) Pay 9 euro to walk through a garden. I went to this gorgeous place called Villa d’Este in a town about an hour outside of Rome on Friday. It’s a Renaissance-era villa and has a bunch of semi-cool, semi-wierd artwork inside. The wall decorations were really intricate, but mostly gave it the appearance of a funhouse. The best part was definitely the gardens – the backyard of this place was huuuge, with tons of paths and shrubs with fountains everywhere. There were even a few waterfalls, and along the edge was a great view of the side of the mountain. It was absolutely gorgeous.

5) Watch silent movies. My favorite class is my history/film class. We watch movies about ancient Rome and then dissect its historical accuracy and significance – it’s incredibly nerdy, but it’s right up my alley and I love it.

6) Speak Italian. My Italian teacher speaks in Italian almost the entire class time, so it’s really good practice for “the real world”. I actually learned how to order something properly last week; but, I’ve been so hungry every time I go into an alimentari to order a sandwich that I usually forget how to phrase it.

TUJ Goes to India

By: Harish Pathak

As part of my travel abroad experience at Temple University Japan, I was able to take a class called “Non-Governmental Organizations and International Development.”  This class covered a variety of topics from poverty alleviation through micro-credit/finance to human rights in developing countries.  For the last two weeks of this class we were able to travel to India directly from Tokyo to see specific NGOs in New Delhi to Chennai.  One highlight was to see M.S. Swaminathan Research Foundation (MSSRF) in Chennai and in nearby villages that had grass-root projects.  MSSRF is an NGO that focuses on a job-led growth strategy for rural areas in India by making sure that it is pro-poor, pro-environment and pro-women.  MSSRF does extensive research in advanced bio-technologies to help aid in sustainable environmental development as well as communications using state of the art technologies to reach and help the rural poor gain important knowledge and education otherwise not available.  After stopping in Chennai at the MSSRF HQ, we then took an overnight bus ride to Dindigul, where we would meet with many initiatives supported through MSSRF.  The different type of initiatives we took part in included the Seed Growers Association, Jhansi Rani Women Self-Help Groups that created eco-enterprises through micro-credit, and Village Knowledge Centers that provide literacy training and weather and market data for farmers.  Our group was lucky enough to be a part of a commencement ceremony for the opening of a new village knowledge center.

Hello world!

Buon giorno, Konnichiwa, Hola and Hello.  Welcome to the Temple University International Programs blog.  The purpose of this blog is to provide a first hand account of what it is like to live and study abroad.  We’ll be posting entries based on the experiences of Temple students. faculty, and staff from all over the world, so be sure to check back often!

If you are currently studying abroad and are interested in contributing entries and/or photos for consideration and possible publication on this blog, please send your submission(s) to study.abroad@temple.edu!

Happy Travels!