Among the 17 individuals in my class, we shared 13 countries for our “cultural fashion show” on Monday. Some of the traditional dress from Nigeria, India and the Philippines was absolutely stunning!! I feel as though I captured the essence of my “red, white and blue” with my Mickey Mouse shirt (that one is for you, Lindsay) and my Red Sox cap (that one is for you, Lisa Sylvia) pretty well! What do you think? ;o)
Look at Inday (pictured above) in her outfit from the Philippines. What looks to be a design on her shirt is actually a beaded necklace! In case you're wondering, yes!, her neck was sore after wearing it just a few hours.And Aarti - our astronaut - in her silk sari was absolutely stunning!
We have a fairly large, creative and enthusiastic “delegation” from Australia! Allow me to introduce Charlie, Ian, Sam (my swim coach) and Tom. What a wonderful bunch! As laid back as they are, they’ve done incredible work in their respected fields. Ian has worked with aborigines in northern Australia for years. I relish story-telling time (naturally in his Australian accent) of his countless and amazing jaunts and encounters with extraordinary people from every corner of the world. My goal is to encourage him to write a book …
Our group of Australians are all laid back and they're “simply fantastic!” After three weeks, I’m still having a bit of difficulty understanding them – especially Charlie! All good though! Between being hard of hearing and just not understanding certain expressions, they still repeat each phrase countless times with a smile! Of course they do … they’re Australian!:o)
The evening concluded with dinner at a Korean restaurant with our American professors Joel Schaffer and Jan Sunoo from the Federal Mediation and Conciliation Service. Since Jan is a Korean-American, we dined at a Korean restaurant downtown. It was absolutely delicious and healthy!! Here's Jan lecturing about the roles of mediator and facilitator and the concept of BATNA (Best Alternative to a Negotiation Agreement). Yes, it is all very interesting! I love school!
Look at all of the little dishes filled with veggies, beans, raw garlic, lettuce, sprouts … Mmmmmmm …. I ate it all!!!!
Other than one other American in class (and incidentally), I never see anyone who is like me, that is … Caucasian. Whether I’m at the gym, shopping, buying my 45 cent bag of fresh cut fruit from the canteen, going to the post office, praying at the temple, or simply walking around – diversity is all around me! I love it and realize that, yes!, this world has much … so much … to teach me!!
"Say cheese!" world :o)
