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Here are some comments from thestudents who come from countriesthat never receive snow…
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“On my first snow experience, Ihave to tell you that I had never seensnow before, so I almostscreamed~!!” - Milk, Thailand
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“Hahahahaaaaa...firstsnowwwwwww...It was amazing!I was doing part of myhomework when suddenly myhost sister said there's snowoutside. I said ‘yeeehaaaa..finallythe snow comes…!!’ Then myhost dad, my sister and our dogtook a little walk in the snow.After that we came back homeand I could not move my eyesfrom the window. It’s just weirdto see a ‘freezing rain’, even Iunderstand there formedprocess. Soon after the longroad, house, trees andeverything became a white field.The sky looked dark, but everythingturned shinny. Then we playedsnowball wars and built a sillysnowman with our neighbor. Thenext morning the snow melted andbecame wet, messy and water loggedeverywhere. Ewwwwwww.”—Ester,Indonesia
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“I like the snow it’s so cool!! Meand my brother make a bigsnowman!!! For me it’s not thatcold!” - Jake, Philippines
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“The first time I snowed, Iremember I was sleeping on thecouch and my host mom had gone totake the dogs out. When it snowedshe got excited because I had told herI had never seen snow before and hadkept asking when it will snow. So shequickly came and woke me up to gosee the snow. It was AMAZING!!!It’s like white cold things falling formthe sky, and I think it looks reallybeautiful after it snows, since its allwhite. The only part that I don’t likeis the fact that its cold, but anywaysits lovely!” - Naima, Kenya
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“The snowy day!!! It was my firsttime seeing real snow falling from thesky. I was so excited and I took lotsof pictures. I was amazed by thepretty snow flakes that fell on theground because I thought that it willbe a chunk of ice bit it wasn’t. I lovesnow!! - Aom, Thailand
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“It was actually my first snow and Ilike this experience. It was so muchfun I liked playing with the snow, and Iliked the best the view of thateverything is white. The green treeslook gray and the sky is prink it isreally very pretty. :) While playing inthe snow it wasn’t cold but I fee verycold after playing. The bad part itwas the next day when the snowmelted and it wasn’t good at all it wasslidy but I like it! :) - Farah, Egypt
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“It is the first time of my lifeseeing snow. I was in thedowntown Portland with my friendand my host dad called me and toldme to look outside the window. Isaw snow!!! I told everyone insidethe store and I almost screamed.My friend and I texted everyoneand told them that it’s snowing.Then we went outside to play withthe snow. I tried to eat it too.First I was so excited, but then itsnowed harder. It is kind of wet…it’s not very cold if you wear theright clothes...I really love snow. Toobad there’s snow only 1 day… =( “ -Supichaya, Thailand
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“I liked it a lot! I would absolutelylove it if it would snow some moreand they would cancel the school! :)”- Idil, Turkey
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“Of course, I really like it, its myfirst snow in ground level. I havebeen to Vancouver, BC in 2006, thatis my first snow in my life. It is notcold when it snows but it is coldwhen it is melting.” - Kohung,Thailand
My FIRST Snow!...
INSIDETHIS ISSUE:
Returnee Laurel
2
Indonesia
3
Bizarre Foods
4-5
StudentQuestions
6-7
Marleigh’s Blog
9
Host ParentComments
8-9
Liaison Info.Global Link
11
Calendar
11
FEBRUARY2010
AFS, as a trulyvolunteer-basedorganization, hasalways had a strongcommitment to itsvolunteers in the U.S.and volunteers worldwide. Becomepart of aninternational familythat is making a worldof difference byvolunteering with AFSin your community.There are many ways you can helpAFS with your volunteer time:
•
Help internationalstudents feel athome in America
•
Build bridges of understandingbetween people
•
Assist withcommunity events
•
Work with youngAmericans who wantto go abroad
•
Work with area highschools,organizations, andfamilies
VOLUNTEER WITH AFS:
Seattle Trip...
Do you want to go toSeattle? There are 4 openspots for the Seattle Tripscheduled on Easterweekend, April 3rd and4th. Four rooms that sleepfour people have beenreserved. We will take the8:30 a.m. train fromPortland, arriving in Seattlearound noon, and returnon the 5:30 p.m. train onSunday. The cost of thetrain is $77 round trip.Anyone signing up now willbe responsible forpurchasing their own traintickets. Room fee will beapproximately $30. Itcould be less if you help sellcandy. Contact BerniceSchuchardt immediately if you are interested in goingon the trip. Emailbmschuch@aol.com or call(503) 775-4161. ContactRon Combs if you are ableto sell candy. Emailr1p2combs3@aol.com orcall (503) 314-5243
Ester from Indonesia’sfirst day in the snow...
PAGE 2
A Message From the Area Team Chair
This past weekend, I wasfortunate enough to meet in NewOrleans with all of the other AFSArea Team Chairs for annualtraining and brainstorming. It was agreat trip, and I've come back educated and energized. One of the things we discussed was howwe, as Area Team Chairs, want ourrespective Area Teams to bedifferent when our term is up(Chairs are elected for two-yearterms, and I'm six months into myterm!) I shared that my goal wasfor the Area Team to get moredone, but for individuals to nothave to work so hard. One wayfor us to reach the goal is to havemore volunteers helping withprojects that are organized bystrong leaders with goodcommunication skills. I took on therole of Chair knowing that thereare countless volunteers here inthe Columbia Pacific Area Teamwho have much more knowledge of AFS and its functions than I do. Ialso knew that those volunteerswould always provide the supportand guidance that I needed. AndAFS USA is embracing technologylike AFSWiki.org (a repository of knowledge about AFS maintainedby volunteers, much like Wikipedia)and AFS Global (the databasesystem that keeps track of allstudents, host families, andvolunteers throughout the world)to ensure that we can find answersto the questions that we mighthave. I feel like we're on the righttrack, but we need a few moreleaders. We currently have thefollowing positions open:
•
Area Team Chair-Elect (workswith the Chair to organize theteam; Chair-Elect becomes Chair atend of current Chair's term andserves as Chair for two years)
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Hosting Coordinator (works withArea chapters to ensure that theyhave the resources they need tofind host families and to placestudents with host families),
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Sending Coordinator (to replaceexisting Sending coordinator, whois leaving for school later this year;works with American students whowant to go abroad for the year.
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Web Site Coordinator (we have avery functional site, but we wouldlike to see it more organized andbetter-designed.If you have another skill orinterest that would be a good fit forthe Team, we're open to forming anew position. Some area teamshave Marketing Coordinators andFundraisingCoordinators. Whether you'regainfully employed, retired,attending school, or between jobsduring these tough economic times,getting involved in a leadershipposition with AFS will help you tobuild skills that will come in handyin the future and might just look good on a resume. Please get withme at
tjspears@gmail.com
if youwould like to talk about thepossibility of taking on a role withthe Area Team. James Spears, Area Team Chair
Our MissionAFS-USA workstoward a more just and peaceful world byprovidinginternational andinterculturallearningexperiences toindividuals,families, schools,and communitiesthrough a globalvolunteer partnership.
It is easy for me to say thatthere are two places on earth Ican call home. One of course ismy home in Portland, where Iwas raised and have lived withmy family since I was small. Thesecond is a yellow housesurrounded by roses, palm trees,and a big iron fence on a dirtpath off Avenida San Juan inRancagua, Chile. I went to Chileas an exchange student for thefall semester in 2008, notknowing what to expect, notknowing much of the language,and completely ignorant of thebonds that I would make withmy classmates and family in thecoming months.I went to school with mysister, a grade below her, at aprivate school of about fivehundred students of all grades.My first day was exhausting. Istruggled to understand myclassmates’ heavily accentedSpanish and was overwhelmed indealing with a multitude of people asking me my name,where I came from, and who Iwas. As the months passed and Ibecame less of a novelty, Isettled into school life and into aroutine with my classmates. Weagonized over tests and rejoicedwhenever a teacher called insick. I helped them with Englishhomework, and they in turnhelped me with my deplorable
Castellano
(which eventually didget better).I eased into the routine of myfamily quickly. I played soccerwith my brothers, and helped mylittle sister with her homework.The sister closest my age soonbecame my closest friend. Mymother and father introducedme to friends as their daughter,which made me happy butconfused some people becausewith my blue eyes and light hair Ilooked nothing like either of myLatino host parents. On theweekends, we would all pile intoa car and head to a friend’shouse for barbeques or partieswith dancing, singing, and endlessplates of food.At the end of my stay, I feltlike I was leaving half of my heartbehind. As I exchanged tearygoodbyes with my friends andfamily, I made myself a promiseto come back. I kept in contactwith everyone, and thisNovember I was lucky enough tobe able to return for my class’sgraduation. It felt as if I hadnever left. I spent one happyweek getting reacquainted withall the people I had missed somuch, and then I had to leaveagain. I was sad to go, but I knowthat I am infinitely lucky to beable to call a place at the otherend of the world my home.Laurel, USA-Chile 08/09
My Trip to Chile—Laurel 08/09
Here is a picture of me with my host mom,host sister and friend.
Spotlight on Indonesia
PAGE 3
Hi all.. my nameEster.. I am anexchange studentfrom IndonesiaI want to tellyou a little aboutmy countryIndonesia is the world’s largestarchipelago, with a large diversity. Itis located in southeast Asia, withmore than 17000 islands. This chainof islands straddles 1,100 miles northand south along the equator.The big 5 Indonesia islands areSumatra, Kalimantan, Java, Sulawesiand Papua or Irian Jaya. I come from Java island, the same island where liesthe capital : Jakarta, and my city isnot far from Jakarta, it is name isBogor.Because Indonesia is located rightin equator line, so the climate istropical with 2 seasons, rainy seasonand dry season. Indonesia naturalecosystem range from palm Fringebeaches to vast jungles, and frommangrove swamp land to mountainpeaks. Its also home for thousands of animal and plant species. Its seas andcoral reefs are teeming with marinelife.With a population of more than230 million people, we have thelargest Moslem population in theworld, about 85% from that number,10% Christian Protestant and Catholicand 5% another religion such asBuddhism and Hinduism andKongHuCu. We have more than 500ethnic groups and 700 triballanguages, but we have one nationallanguage that makes us able tocommunicate with each tribe, we callit Bahasa Indonesia. With 500 tribe,Indonesia rich with divers tradition,culture and custom.The Indonesia national symbol namedGaruda Pancasila.At this bird’s chest, is a shield thatrepresents our 5 national Ideals,ideology and principles that is calledPancasila.Pancasila more or less after translatedto English like this :1. Belief in God2. Justify and Civilized Humanity3. The unity of Indonesia4. Democracy guided by the innerwisdom of deliberation of representative5. Social justice for all theIndonesian people.Also there present our nationalmotto : “ Bhinneka TunggalIka” ( come from sansekertalanguage , a very ancient languageIndonesian ever use. This motto havealmost the same meaning with “EPluribus Unum” : Unity in diversity
Oregon Shakespeare Festival Trip
Would you like to go to Ashland Oregonand see the world famous OregonShakespeare Festival?
When:
The trip will be May 1st, 2nd and3rd
Cost:
The cost is $120.
What Plays:
The plays you will see are
HAMLET
and
SHE LOVES ME
.We are limited to 25 spaces. If you areinterested, please send in a $60 non-refundable deposit. (balance due April 15th,2010)
Contact:
Ron Combsr1p2combs3@aol.com or call
(503) 314-5243
The Indonesia Flag has 2 colors.Red symbolizes bravery and white symbolized virtue.
DifferentTraditionalCostumes fromDifferent Tribes
Teen Science Night—FREE
The Oregon Museum of Science andIndustry will be having a special freeevening at OMSI just for visitors ages 13— 18. Teens-only Night will be on March 6thfrom 7 to 10 p.m.. Students can explorethe museum, rock out to a live DJ, ride theSegway, play games, and more! TeenScience Night is a quarterly event onSaturdays form 7—10 p.m. Admission isfree; food and beverages are available forpurchase.For more information about OMSI, visittheir website at www.omsi.edu.
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