FORECAST Exchange
Serbia and Montenegro
November 2008
PROGRAM UPDATE
Greetings from Washington DC! Now that November has arrived we hope you are enjoying cooler temperatures and the colorful trees. It has been our pleasure to speak with all of you over the past month. We have enjoyed hearing about your experiences, extracurricular activities, and courses.
IN THIS ISSUE
PROGRAM UPDATE TRAVEL PROCEDURES STUDENT ARTICLE (ELECTION) TRAVEL TIPS SITE VISIT REPORT 1 1 2 3 3
Before you know it, it will be time for your Thanksgiving break and then, in a few short weeks, final exams and the end of your first semester in the U.S. Over the next few weeks most of you will register for your spring semester classes. As in the Fall, we will look forward to seeing your class lists. If you look closely at the photo above, you will see Bojan and Malisha from Tennessee Tech volunteering on a house building project. We would like to congratulate those of you who have already completed a portion of your community service requirement. The upcoming holiday season will present you with many new opportunities and so we encourage you to get out there and get involved! Best Regards,
CALENDAR
Nov. 2 Nov. 4
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– RESET CLOCKS* – ELECTION DAY (US)
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Nov. 11 Nov. 13
– VETERANS DAY (US) – HOLIDAY ITINERARIES DUE
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Thomas Bruey
Daniel Pirbudagov
Nov. 27, 28 – THANKSGIVING AND DAY AFTER
(WL Closed)
TRAVEL PROCEDURES
As you make your travel plans for the upcoming Thanksgiving and Winter breaks, please keep the following procedures in mind: THANKSGIVING BREAK: Send us your travel dates, itinerary, and contact phone th numbers by November 13 .
Dec. 2 Dec. 5
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– WINTER BREAK ITINERARIES DUE TO WL – FALL VOLUNTEER REPORTS DUE
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*Clocks will be set back one hour at 2:00 AM
CONTACT US
World Learning 1990 M Street, Suite 310 Washington, DC 20036 Phone 1-202-223-4291 1-800-252-7883 (toll free) Thomas Bruey ext. 7328 Daniel Pirbudagov ext. 7333 Fax 202-223-4289 E-mail thomas.bruey@worldlearning.org daniel.pirbudagov@worldlearning.org
WINTER BREAK: Send us your detailed itinerary (including dates of travel and destinations) and contact nd information by December 2 .
Ana Radulovic from Indiana University of Pennsylvania during a visit Niagara Falls in New York.
Remember to travel safely! Always be aware of your surroundings and watch your personal belongings very closely. Do let us know if you will be in Washington, DC. We would be happy to meet you here!
Page 2 OLE MISS AND THE DEBATE
Safet Berisa The first thing most foreigners coming to Oxford, Mississippi have to explain to people at home is “No, it’s not that Oxford.” However, the two places are not completely unrelated – the newer one was named after the older one in hopes that the state university will be opened there, and both towns live and breathe in the rhythm of their respective universities. In the year 2008 that meant that the City of Oxford, MS would be living and breathing in the rhythm of the first presidential debate. The mounting excitement of the debate was one of those things that could be felt in the air. Even those who don’t usually feel the intangible stuff floating about were aware of its impending presence – the people here, nice as only Southerners can be, thought of them and hung debate banners on almost every other lamppost on campus. As the Daily Mississippian’s counter of “days remaining until the debate” reached single digits, debate-related activities increased. Brownbag lectures were becoming numerous, campaign sponsors started doing their giveaways and, in the final predebate days, news-crews began setting up their vans and open-air studios around campus. It was about that time that Senator McCain started talking about postponing or even canceling the debate. The news was not taken merrily by Ole Miss. Election News and Information The Presidential Candidates: http://www.barackobama.com http://www.johnmccain.com/ Polls and Results: http://www.pollster.com/ The Media: News & Analysis www.cnn.com www.politico.com www.washingtonpost.com Foreign Policy & the Campaign: http://www.cfr.org/campaign2008/
FORECAST Exchange
have been dangerous for an AfricanAmerican to drive in the passenger seat of your car, to now – a time when an African-American would make one of the most important steps to the presidency, greeted with open hands, at the very same place. It was an opportunity for Ole Miss to present itself to the nation in a new light – not as a university of the South, but as the flagship university of the new South. Ultimately, the debate went as planned. Most people saw it on the TV and some us actually got to go to the Gertrude Castellow Ford Center that night (about two hundred students, a handful compared to the more than 17500 students of Ole Miss’ four campuses) and listen to Senators McCain and Obama in person. Still, as exciting as being in the same room with the next president of the United States is, the crowning moment for the attending Ole Miss students happened even before the two senators came to the stage and before the cameras started rolling. It was when Chancellor Khayatt asked us to rise and asked the audience to greet us. Standing there with your fellow students, experiencing a wave of applause from about a thousand people including everyone from the several wee children to the likes of Bill Clinton is truly a unique experience… kind of like all of that intangible stuff floating the air up to that moment materializing everywhere around you.
In a matter of seconds after McCain’s statement aired on TV it became the hottest topic in the few remaining predebate days (the statement was given two days before the debate was scheduled to take place). Some defended him, agreeing that the failing economy took precedence over the presidential campaign, most students and faculty, however, shared the opinion of the Daily Mississippian’s cartoonist whose cartoon in the next day’s issue showed Ole Miss with a $5 million price tag (roughly the amount invested into organizing the debate by the University) with the caption “What about us?” (referring to the ailing economy as the given cancellation reason) and the McCain caricature’s response – “I’m not talking about you, whiners.” The five million, however, was not the only reason for the overall lack of sympathy towards such an act. This debate meant to Ole Miss much more than just the five million dollars. It was a symbol. A symbol of progress Ole Miss made from the time when an African-American student had to be escorted to the Registrar’s Office by federal marshals, to the time when it would
Anita Stoilkov volunteers for the Obama campaign at the University of Missouri. The vote in Missouri is still too-close-to-call.
Page 3 QUICK TIPS – TRAVEL
Many of you are planning trips during Thanksgiving and winter breaks. Please, be careful, and keep these tips in mind:
FORECAST Exchange
PACK LIGHTLY. You may be
traveling for several weeks, but try to take only necessary items. Don’t forget your passport, health insurance card, money, tickets, and needed medicines along with your usual clothes and cameras. The fewer bags you pack, the easier it will be for you to pick up and go from city to city or state to state.
USEFUL TRAVEL WEBSITES:
Plane: When searching for affordable plane tickets check the following sites and compare prices. www.expedia.com/ www.kayak.com/ www.southwest.com/ Train and Bus: Amtrak (www.amtrak.com) and Greyhound (www.greyhound.com) are the nation’s largest train and bus services. Much slower and often as expensive as flying, they represent a second option. Lodging: Check these websites when looking for hostels in cities around the US. www.hihostels.com/ www.hostelworld.com/ Popular Destinations: Planning a trip to any of these major cities? Check out the following sites for some ideas. Washington, DC www.washington.org/
MAKE RESERVATIONS IN ADVANCE.
Plane tickets and hotels are reserved quickly during Christmas and New Year Holidays. If you wait too long, you might miss your chance or pay much higher prices.
KEEP VALUABLES IN CARRY-ON BAGGAGE. Do not wrap your
packages and keep all valuables, medications, and electronics in carryon baggage. You will be much happier knowing that these items are secure and there less risk that they will be lost by the airline.
CONSIDER USING TRAVELER’S CHECKS. Traveler's checks are a
safe and easy way to avoid carrying large amounts of cash. If lost or stolen, traveler’s checks can be replaced with a phone call, usually within 24 hours. They work just like cash and are accepted by merchants across the country. They can be purchased at any bank, so visit yours to find out more.
Excerpts taken from “Travel USA”, USATourist.com
GET TO THE AIRPORT EARLY. Arrive
to the airport two hours before your scheduled departure. Airports will be exceptionally busy during the holidays and the security lines can be very long.
SITE VISIT TO ELIZABETHTOWN COLLEGE
Daniel Pirbudagov On October 16 and 17 , I visited Elizabethtown College in Pennsylvania. Home to three FORECAST students, Jovana Bogdanov, Mejla Marija Jandali, and Dragana Ristic, I had a chance to meet Dragana and Jovana during my visit. I had a great time discussing their experiences in the U.S. generally and at Etown in particular. As an Elizabethtown alumnus, during the Elizabethtown College Homecoming parade it was interesting to revisit the campus where I spent four years as an undergraduate and see it from a new perspective. Elizabethtown is a small community, but is just 90 minutes from Washington, DC and four hours from New York City. The students are very active in extracurricular activities from the Japanese club to Circle K. My visit coincided with Homecoming weekend, so on Saturday I was able to watch the International Club’s float in the homecoming parade. Needless to say Serbia was well represented. I would like to thank the students and staff at Etown for their hospitality.
Dragan Ristic waves from the International Club float
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San Francisco, CA www.onlyinsanfrancisco.com/ New York City, NY www.nycvisit.com/