International Students Enjoy Easter at Larry's House

Last Sunday, March 23 Professor Larry Janow generously invited all of the international students from Sweet Briar College to his house to spend a fun, interesting Easter holiday with his family. Larry came to the campus in a van to pick up all of the international students and took them to his place, where there was much fun waiting to be enjoyed. Larry's wife welcomed everyone with different types of drinks and snacks. Then the students were asked to play a "word game" in which they had to work in teams to find "spring words" in a crossword puzzle. The winners were provided with some gifts later on.
Afterward, the students opened a discussion with Larry's family about "Easter Eggs" and why people are celebrating Easter, and why there are always eggs? The discussion was fun and full of "international" jokes. Then the students were asked to go out of the house and look for some hidden Easter eggs. The race began as soon as Larry's wife counted to three. All the students enjoyed the hunt and had great fun looking for eggs everywhere while they were running into each other. While some managed to find as many as fourteen eggs, others were less lucky and found none.
Following the hunt, everyone sat down to enjoy the delicious dinner that Larry's wife had made. After eating so much, the students had time to dance to some American Easter songs, which are meant for children with Larry's family. This wonderful evening became one of the great experiences the international students had a chance to enjoy here at Sweet Briar. So far, this has been the fourth time that Professor Larry has generously invited all internationals to his place.

Cultural Dialogue through International Film Series

This semester the International Hall at Sweet Briar College is showing almost one international film every weekend. The purpose of showing these films is to "learn and discuss cultural differences and similarities." They started off with showing their first film in Tyson Auditorium on Sunday, March 2, beginning with "Arranged." This movie explores a friendship between two young women, one a Muslim and the other, an Orthodox Jew.

After the movie, there was a discussion about the different issues raised by this film. Rahma, who is an international student from Oman, was asked to direct a discussion. The audience enjoyed the movie and raised a lot of interesting questions about "women and religion," "women and arranged marriages," "religion and feminism," and "women and freedom of choice".

This movie is now available in the library for students to watch and enjoy. The next film is going to be a movie from Germany.

A Movie Night with the Wasserman

Once a month, the international students at SBC get invited to Jesse & Celeste Wasserman's house, a couple from New Life Church in Lynchburg, to enjoy gathering and watching a movie with them. The Wasserman have been doing this for the international students since the beginning of the year. For some weekends also, the Wasserman voluntarily come to pick some of these students to go the Church and sometimes to enjoy "New Life Club's Tea Time".

Last Friday (February 29), the internationals enjoyed a romantic comedy movie called: Sabrina (1996 version with Harrison Ford). Last month, the students watched already the older version of the same movie. While some of the students liked the old version, others enjoyed this one more. What do you think? Have you ever watched these movies? If so, which one did you like the most?

Arabic Music and Poetry at Randolph College

Last Saturday (February, 23)the international students had the chance to visit Randolph College and enjoy a selection of Arabic music and poetry. The event was called "Pathways to Understanding" and organized by UMMAH Club at Randolph. The event was held in the Houston Memorial Chapel of the college and the presenters were different professors of Arabic poetry, ethnomusicology, and Arabic music composers.

In this even, the students enjoyed listening to the music of different types of Arabic musical instruments like, Oud, Qanun and Na'y. What surprised the students was that some of the artists who played these instruments were American artists. Do you think "Music" and "Arts" can establish strong pathways to cultural understanding?

International Students Participate @ SBC Student Leadership Conference

Annually, Sweet Briar College runs a Student Leadership Conference. The theme of this year Conference is "Leadership: Going Global". Last Saturday, February 16, 2008, the Eleventh Annual Student Leadership Conference took place at the Conference Center from 9 am- 2 pm. And for the first time, the International Students presents a session on issues of women leadership at their home countries. The participated students are Elisa from Italy, Brenda from China, Rahma form Oman, Yuko from Japan and Tania from Ecuador.

They talked about how leadership, in general, looks in their home countries and what are the similarities and the differences between the leadership in the United States and the leadership in their countries. They also discussed the women's roles in their countries. Finally, they shed a light on the successes and the challenges women face in other countries of the world. The session was very successful as the attendants were very interested and raised some controversial questions.

International Students @ SBC

Every year, Sweet Briar College welcomes a number of international students from different countries. This year, there are two students from Afghanistan, three students from France, one from Italy, one from Spain, one from Oman, one from China and one from Japan.

In some occasions, these students manage to cook dinner together and spend a night full of different cultures, different languages, different food, international music and a lot of fun. With the beginning of the second semester, and after a long beak away from each other, the students gather again and have a big dinner in Faculty Row house as in the photo.

Welcome

This is a welcoming post for all the community of Sweet Briar College who want to know more about the International Students @ SBC....