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Tuesday, March 25, 2008

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.

Sunday, March 2, 2008

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.