2008 December Newsletter

NEWSLETTER HOLIDAY 2008-2009

HOSTING NEWS “YNKUYA!” You never know unless you ask! We have known for a long time that the very best host family recruiting comes from one-on-one word-of-mouth, especially with families who have an AFS Heart. The staff recently sent out an “Emma” email—I’m sure you received it. It was an appeal for our last five winter placements. The response in the Northwest was rather amazing. It looks as though we may end up with three placements after the dust settles. We recently found a replacement family for a student because his buddies took it upon themselves to make copies of my business cards and pass them out to friends and neighbors. “YNKUYA!” So please keep asking! Our summer hosting season will be here before we know it and the more families we have interested and “waiting in the wings” the more placements we can make early, so our families can begin corresponding with their students before they arrive. We would like to encourage all volunteers to have some piece of AFS information with them—at the minimum be able to spell out the 800-AFS-INFO number that connects folks with staff, but better than that have our local website handy so folks can begin the process by completing a Form A to host; or interested students can apply to go abroad at www.afscp.com (The “cp” stands for Columbia Pacific Area Team.) Sally Ann Wells, Interim Hosting Coordinator

SENDING NEWS Pre-Departure Orientation for Winter Departure Americans American students preparing to go on exchange are required to attend the PDO that will be held at the AFS office, 506 SW Sixth Avenue on January 11, 2009 from 10:00 - 3:00. Emily Leis has managed to get 8 students registered, interviewed and guaranteed for winter departure. The following students will become AFS Ambassadors, leaving in January, February and March: Mr. Michael M. ~ Semester-ARGENTINA; Ms. Malia R-E~ Semester-BRAZIL; Mr. Jordan Leigh K-G.~ Semester-BRAZIL; Ms. Carly O. ~ Semester-ITALY; Ms. Myriam E. ~ Semester-ITALY; Ms. Anastasia G. ~ Semester-PANAMA; Ms. Elizabeth P. ~ Year-COSTA RICA; Ms. Hayley B. ~ Year-THAILAND. Sally Ann Wells

Happy is HAPPY! - Happy from India Since being an Exchange student from India, I never got a chance to see the snow and all my friends and family over here knew that. Sunday morning at 9:00, my friend woke me up, but I was so tired because of the dance at my school the night before. When he woke me up and told me “Happy, it’s snowing!” But because I was tired I was like “that’s cool.” Then I realized after a second “it’s SNOW,” I woke up and was like “Wait! What? Really?” I was so happy. The snow was so beautiful. Both of us immediately grabbed our jackets and hand gloves and put on our shoes and ran outside. It was one of the happiest moments of my life. We made snowballs and threw at each other and ran around in the snow. Then I called my family back in India to tell them that it’s still so happy and excited!” I am planning to go snowing—even they were excited for me because I was the snowboarding with my friends, soon. only one in my family who had not seen the snow. And because of the snow…Monday, I don’t have school! “I am Happy, India Happy wrote this article for AFS before his accident. For updates on his condition, visit the blog Happy’s host father Glenn Malloy created. http://happy-bhatt.blogspot.com/

YOUR AFS WORLD My Thanksgiving Experience—Andreas, Denmark Finally! The weekend was there, and the school district apparently decided to let us stay home Monday through Wednesday, which meant that my thanksgiving break officially started after school on Friday. The school had been hard the proceeding few weeks, and I felt that a break was ill deserved! Fortunately, these few extra days off, cleared the way for our early departure to the sunny state of California, where we would celebrate thanksgiving with friends, and continue on to San Francisco. I was picked up by Robert in his police car when I arrived at Millikan Way max station, and was placed in the back seat (that's where all the bad guys go). As a result, bypassing kinder gardeners looked a lot when they saw a Danish teenage crook in the police car. My first road trip on American soil, was a great experience as all of us played games and answered conceptual questions on the way down, with an occasional podcast here and there. 10 hours is usually a long time, but Robert and Curtis made it worthwhile as we had great fun, and great talks. Some time later, after a good nap, we arrived at the Hyatt hotel in Sacramento, a few blocks from the capital inhabited by Arnold Schwarzenegger (the buff guy in Terminator). We stayed overnight, and next morning Robert and I made full use of the pool and spa facilities, while Curtis went for a joyous jog in the area. Later that day we enjoyed a thanksgiving dinner with Curtis' friend Ginny and her entire family. My first thanksgiving was a great experience that I will never forget, and the food was perfect! Not much unlike what you get at a Danish Christmas actually. The next day, after taking a family picture and aiding the prop 8 demonstrators in their mission in front of the capital, we drove off to San Francisco. The drive wasn't nearly as long as our initial drive, and I made sure that the car radio was playing "San Francisco" as we drove across the bridge. We stayed at Hilton hotel, and thanks to Facebook, Robert had reconnected with his cousin Warren, who offered to show us around the city with his wife. This tour with the best view of the golden gate bridge, pier 39 and much more could not have been any better. I had a wonderful thanksgiving with two awesome host dads! Thanks for a wonderful trip Robert and Curtis! Andreas, Denmark

What did you think of the Thanksgiving holiday and what was your favorite food? ~

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Thanksgiving was great! I really enjoyed it with my “new” family! Most of all I liked the stuffing & the sweet potatoes. It was a lot of fun & I am ~ looking forward for the black Friday shopping at 4am—Anna-Lena, Germany Sweet potatoes!!!—Dianhong, China Absolutely the stuffing! :) I love that stuff!!! One of my cousins always eats all of it but he was at his girlfriends house so...there was a lot left. :-) I loved Thanksgiving & we had so much fun! - Maria, Denmark My favorite was the turkey—JeanBaptiste, Italy I don’t see why it is such a BIG holiday in Portland. We get 10 days off just for thanking God. I think it should be a lot shorter because we ~ should thank God, not ourselves. I had a very nice Thanksgiving dinner with our neighbors. We had the traditional turkey & lot of different side

dishes. It was a fun day & I also got to babysit a little. All in all I really enjoyed the day and the 10 days off— Daniel, Austria The day began in Minneapolis, Minnesota. I had been there since Saturday & visited friends & my host sister Karin. It was so much fun! When I came back to Portland my ~ host mother Carolyn came & picked me up. The whole family went to some close friends for Thanksgiving dinner & it was yummy! Turkey, mashed potatoes, green beans & the desserts. Pumpkin pie & the best, pecan pie. Everything tasted so good & afterwards we had some nice conversations & played guitar. It was a fun evening & I would like to do it again! But maybe eat a little bit less next time, ha ha—Hulda, Sweden ~ I really think it is an honor for people to celebrate Thanksgiving because some cultures don’t celebrate something like this. I think

Thanksgiving is a family day & I love family days because I LOVE my family. My favorite dish was the turkey & pineapple dish that my grandmother made. I also like some pies my host mom baked. I just enjoyed my first Thanksgiving & it is a pleasure for me to celebrate a new for me holiday! - Philip, Germany I really had a great Thanksgiving here. Actually, this was the second time for me. This day was a family days. We spent time together, playing games & eating together. It’s hard to tell what my favorite food was because I am a foodie!!! I love to take pictures & taste them. But the best of them that I thought was the mashed potatoes with gravy! - Patty, Nutnida, Thailand It is a sweet & warm holiday. Everything is tender & nice. Sweet potatoes with apples. Turkey of course—Tiantian, China

YOUR AFS WORLD Thanksgiving—Raima, Kyrgyzstan Thanksgiving is national American holiday. The true story tells us that Pilgrims were very thankful to Native Americans with surviving in new land. The main meal of the holiday is turkey. Every family on Thanksgiving are going to cook a turkey with another different kinds of food. This Thanksgiving was my first holiday in America. I have never celebrated it in Kyrgyzstan. On Thursday, Thanksgiving day, my family had two events. They are brother’s birthday and Thanksgiving. My brother, Gabe, was very exciting about it, because he had his birthday at the same Thanksgiving day. Gabe is nine now. This year my family invited more than 15 people. All of them are relatives and friends from the both sides of my parents. It was pleasure for me to meet new members of my American family. Afternoon was the most busy time during the day, because we were cooking the last meals for the dinner. I cooked the tradition meal of my family. It is onionpie. Dad’s sister helped me to prepare it. The main ingredients of it are onion, sera-cream, cheese and corn. It was new meal for me , I have never tried onion-pie before. My mum gave me opportunity to prepare turkey for the oven. I spiced an oiled it. Also I helped to my uncle’s wife to decorate her food. It was vegetarian kind of meal. That night I was full a lot. Besides I tried every meal on the table, we had dissert after. There were three kinds of pie. All of them were delicious. They were apple, pumpkin and nuts pies. My Thanksgiving in America was very good. It is good custom to join together with whole your family during the turkey dinner and thank each other for helping. Raima, Kyrgyzstan

Visiting Teachers attend Diversity Film Festival at Jefferson High School Our visiting teachers and their liaisons attended the diversity film festival sponsored by instructor Gigi Doncan on December 8th. Mr. Geoffrey Brooks, retired Master teacher and supervisor for University of Portland’s MAT candidates, introduced the film and conducted the discussion on the film Iraq for Sale: The War Profiteers. Eva, Suwannee and Vicki were engaged and had good questions for discussion. We had so much fun, we plan to attend the rest of the monthly gatherings—won’t you join us? The following is a listing of upcoming films: January 12 – Life and Debt; February 2 – Thomas Sankara The Upright Man; March 2 – Reinventing the World: Food; April 6 – Reinventing the World: Cities; and May 4 – Reinventing the World: Work and Time. The premise of showing these films and discussing them is to contribute to the education and understanding of Jefferson students. ▲ Visiting teachers Eva, Suwannee and The poster contains the question: “Who’s in Control? Where do I fit Vicki with Gigi Doncan and Professor in?” Each film will be shown at 6:00 PM in the Community Room A-43, Brooks at Jefferson High School, 5210 North Kerby Avenue, Portland, OR 97217. Light refreshments are served and good discussion is generated. It’s fun; it’s FREE! See you at the movies! VISIT OUR WEB SITE, WWW.AFSCP.COM! Don’t forget that we have a great resource for both host parents and exchange students at our web site, www.afscp.com. You’ll find current and past newsletters there as well as pictures from AFS events. Visit the site now to see the first picture ever taken of you and your host family at Arrival Orientation. The online calendar is a great source of information. There’s a quick list of all of the mandatory orientations. Remember, AFS Columbia-Pacific’s website is www.afscp.com. James Spears, Area Team Webmaster 3

YOUR AFS WORLD Spotlight on India—Tahseen from New Delhi, India My name is Tahseen and I am from New Delhi, India. New Delhi is the capitol of India and is most important city of India. My life in India was like a normal Indian teenager. But after coming here I came to know lots of different things about the world and about India which I never knew before. I love playing sports my favorite sports are Cricket and Badminton. I play Badminton at my school. My school’s name is JAMIA SENIOR SECONDARY SCHOOL. My best friends are Aminah and Tushar. I like to hangout with friends. I like traveling too that’s why I love being an exchange student.

India is one of the countries that play a rather important part in the development of the world’s culture and economy in some spheres. India is also one of the most beautiful countries of the planet. Its culture and traditions can fairly be called the richest and the most authentic. India is one of the oldest civilizations of the world. India is known for its culture and beauty. India is birth place of many religions which even exist now in the world.

India is full of historical buildings made by different kings who ruled this country. We have “Taj Mahal” which is the top wonder of the world. It was made by Shahjahaan for his wife Mumtaz Mahal. Taj Mahal is made up of white marble which was brought from all over the world. This beautiful building is situated in Agra, India.

India is a mixture of people from all the religions. 80% of the Indian population is Hindu, 12% are Muslims, 2.5% are Christians and 2% are Sikhs. There are many other religions too like Jainism Buddhism Judaism etc. India is also called the land of festivals. We celebrate a festival everyday. But some major festivals are Diwali (festival of light), Eid (festival of love and brotherhood), Dassehra, Holi (festival of color), Independence Day (15th of august), Republic Day and Rakshabandhan (festival for brothers and sisters). Independence Day is celebrated because India was freed from British on this day. ◄ Diwali (festival of lights) ►Eid (festival of love and brotherhood)

Indian flag is called “TIRANGA” which means tricolor. It has three strips of color and a CHAKRA in the middle. The saffron India is birthplace of many great humans one of them is color shows the courage of the country. The white is for peace Mahatma Gandhi he is known as the father of Indian nation. His and the green is for prosperity. The “ASHOK CHAKRA” is taken birthday 2nd of October, is an official holiday in India, and is also from the capitol of Ashoka. known as the world peace day…. India’s national animal is BENGAL TIGER and the national bird is PEACOCK.

One of his message was “THERE IS NO WAY TO

Hindi is the national and official language of India and is spoken PEACE; PEACE IS THE WAY”. by 400 million people of India. Hindi is originated from Sanskrit (which is the root language of many European languages). There Tahseen, New Delhi, India are almost hundreds of languages spoken in India. 4

YOUR AFS WORLD Farewell to Emilio from Argentina With new students being placed, it will also soon be time to wish farewell to Emilio from Argentina. Emilio will head for home on January 6th. He is headed for a family vacation in Florida for the next couple of weeks—enjoy the sunshine! It will help you get ready to return to summer in Argentina.

Emilio—Argentina Emilio and friends at the Veteran’s Day Parade

AFS Grapefruit Off-Loading and volunteers from League of Women Voters of LO, Grant High School and the MAC Synchronized folks contributed their help and made light work of a big job. The grapefruit is sweeter than ever and we are actually considering a second campaign of the healthy fundraiser in the spring. We’ve already spoken to several “regulars” who would be happy to order a second time. Be watching for news of this.

▲ Many of the helpers for the grapefruit unloading Many thanks to all the students and volunteers who assisted with the off-loading of our grapefruit fundraising order. The off-loading of our grapefruit order went very smoothly on that first Saturday in December. Lake Oswego and Portland AFS had lots of good manual help from our exchange students, volunteers and host parents; ▲ The assembly line waiting for the ground workers

▲ Andreas was the ground worker catching all those boxes!

▲ Holiday Party after the unloading! 5

YOUR AFS WORLD Spotlight on Sweden—Hulda from Mora, Sweden I am Hulda and I am an exchange student from Mora, Sweden in northern Europe. My country is very beautiful with gorgeous nature, landscapes, mountains and lakes. The beauty with Sweden is that we have all the four seasons and the differences between the landscapes in the south and north. The southern part has a lot of farms, is very flat, has warm summers and more people live there. The north on the other hand has many mountain ranges, cold snowy winters and evergreen forests.

Stockholm, Sweden

The capital Stockholm is in the southeast middle part of Sweden and has a population of about one million. It is a friendly city with many cultural backgrounds. There are a large number of tourist activities like “Regal Skeppet Vasa”. It is an old royal ship which sunk around the 1700’s and that they have made a museum of. There is also an animal park called “Skansen” and next to it is an amusement park that people love to go to. In the middle of Stockholm is the castle where the King Carl XVI Gustaf lives with his wife Silvia from Germany and their three wonderful children Victoria, Carl Philip and Madeleine. Victoria is the one who will be our next royal person when Carl Gustaf dies. Next to the castle is “Riksdagen” where the government works. More than 9 million people live in Sweden. Our currency is called kronor. When I came here one dollar was about six kronor, but now it is 8.50 kronor. June 6th is the national day, we celebrate Christmas the December 24th instead of the 25th and dance around the Christmas tree.

Vasaloppet at the end in Mora

drink. In the winter Mora has the largest cross country ski race in the whole world; “Vasaloppet”. It is 90 km long (56 miles) and every year about 15 000 people come and participate, it is in the first weekend of March. It is a great experience and almost the whole town works to help it be as successful as possible. We also have a good ice hockey team which was in the highest league but unfortunately dropped down one division in the end of March this year. The symbol of Sweden is the” Dala Horse”, a red wooden horse with lots of colors. They started to make them in a little village in my town and still do. It is a big tourist attraction and you can buy a “Dalahäst” in all tourist stores. We also have a big lake in Mora called “Siljan” where you can go ice skating in the winter and swim in during the summer.

Ski resort at Lake Siljan

Dala Horse

Sweden very small compared to the rest of the world but is a wealthy and successful country. The Nobel festival is in Stockholm December 10th every year and the world’s greatest authors, scientists and inventors come to honor Alfred Nobel and are awarded the Nobel Prize. IKEA, the famous furniture store is very Swedish and is all over the world with their wonderful food and Swedish design and language. ABBA is from Sweden, and we are the country which drinks most coffee per person in the whole world. To make this clear, the candy Swedish Fish has not the same name in Sweden, and we don’t really have a name for it Mora, Sweden actually. I love my country and it is an amazing part of the world My town Mora is in the middle of Sweden (four hours from Stockholm), in a province called Dalarna which is which I recommend and invite everyone to visit and famous for its Midsummer holiday. The last weekend of experience. June we dance around the Maypole and sing summer songs, many people dress up in their traditional costumes Hulda, Sweden and after the dance families gather together to eat and 6

WHAT THE STUDENTS HAVE TO SAY... What did the students have to say when they were asked the following questions? • • • • • 1. What is your favorite new English word?

• • • • • • • • • • • • • • •

•

Awkward—Karolina, Chili “Cock-a-doodle-doo” the sound of a rooster—Anna-Lena, Germany Articulate—Andreas, Denmark Tight—Daniel, Austria Dude—Warat, Thailand Awesome—Marte, Norway Cute—Raima, Kyrgyzstan Vacation—Sebastiao, Portugal Sweet! - Mami, Japan Persuading—Feroz, India Well...I finally learned to used the word INTERRUPT—Juulia, Finland Sensibility—Dianhong, China Belly flopper—Philip, Germany Road rage—Suwannee, Teacher from Thailand Protean, meaning variable or continually changing or versatility, I use it when I talk to my host brother. I don’t really know how to pronounce it but it’s just funny. I learned it in English class, we have unnecessary vocabulary quizzes—Hulda, Sweden

2. Funniest moment this month?

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I don’t remember why but my host mom started rapping at dinner. It was so funny! - Karolina, Chili We went out with our convertible (hat, gloves, winter jacket) got ice cream from DQ and drove through the neighborhoods to see the Christmas lights on the houses—Anna-Lena, Germany On my trip to San Francisco, I accidentally stepped on someone's food very hard when I was trying to get a better view of the golden gate bridge—Andreas, Denmark

• • • • •

•

50th birthday—Daniel, Austria I went to Disneyland & San Francisco. It was the best thing in my life—Warat, Thailand All the funny people I have met— Marte, Norway I went to the cinema for the first time and saw Madagascar 2 which was very funny—Raima, Kyrgyzstan My presentation on a essay on syphilis—Sebastiao, Portugal I went ice skating and fell 3 times— Mami, Japan Wrestling & pinning a guy in 6 seconds—Feroz, India We had a really good time with some girls from the swim team when we went to dinner together—Juulia, Finland Thanksgiving dinner & the Winter formal dance—Dianhong, China International Club Christmas Party— Philip, Germany “Pad Ki Mao” Drankard Noodle—Thai cooking in my High School Thai class at Trillium Charter School—Suwannee, Teacher from Thailand Snow days! We’ve been sledding, drinking hot chocolate, playing guitar, watching movies and relaxed in the hot tub and it has been an amazing time! Hulda, Sweden

3. If you could be an American Actor/Actress, who would you be?

• • • • • • • • • • •

Misha Barton because she is so nice & pretty & seems to be very simple— Karolina, Chili Russell Crowe, I think he is very talented & good looking—Andreas, Denmark Will Smith—Daniel, Austria Kristen Stewart because she got to play in Twilight—Marta, Norway Brad Pit—Raima, Kyrgyzstan Tom Cruise—Sebastiao, Portugal Jim Carrey—Mami, Japan Marlon Brando—Feroz, India Bella in the movie Twilight—Juulia, Finland Keira Knightley—Dianhong, China Nicole Kidman—Suwannee, Teacher from Thailand

4. What is your favorite American food that you do not have in your home country?

• • • • • • • • • • • • • • •

Candy with peanut butter—Karolina, Chili Burrito—Anna-Lena, Germany Tamales, even though it is Mexican food and not American—Andreas, Denmark Tortillas—Daniel, Austria Taco Bell—Warat, Thailand Taco Bell and Starbucks—Marte, Norway Taquito, a kind of Mexican pizza— Raima, Kyrgyzstan Burgerville—Sebastiao, Portugal Wendy’s hamburgers—Mami, Japan Tacos—Feroz, India Peanut butter chocolate cups definitely!!! - Juulia, Finland Cinnamon rolls and pumpkin pie— Dianhong, China Mexican food—Philip, Germany Mud Pie (ice cream pie) - Suwannee, Teacher from Thailand Sweet potatoes– Hulda, Sweden

5. Favorite school activity?

• • • • • • • • • • • • • •

Dance team and the parties that the school does—Karolina, Chili My PE class (strength & conditioning/ weight lifting)—Anna-Lena, Germany Photography class—Andreas, Denmark Drumming/Band—Daniel, Austria Water polo and Drama—Marte, Norway Mixed choir concert—Raima, Kyrgyzstan Playing dodge ball—Sebastiao, Portugal Ceramics class—Mami, Japan Wrestling for the school team—Feroz, India Ha ha lunch—Juulia, Finland Friday assemblies—Dianhong, China Swim practice—Philip, Germany Camp out & potluck—Suwannee, Teacher from Thailand Lunch when I can hang out with all my friends—Hulda, Sweden

Do you have a question you would like to know the answer to? Email it to me. [email protected] 7

YOUR AFS WORLD Columbia Gorge Chapter After the very wet parade experience on Veterans Day in Vancouver, the AFS Columbia Gorge Chapter participated in The Dalles Starlight Parade to welcome the Christmas season. On Friday after Thanksgiving the students prepared and rode on the float showing a world map with tiny lights marking each country sent to or hosted by our chapter since 1956. The weather was cool and clear so a fun evening was had by all viewers and participants.

◄Tree was purchased by Bill & Pam Hubble for $800.

sort and deliver fruit to the community, the annual Festival of Trees to raise money for the local Celilo Cancer Center, and the Philanthropy Fair to "talk" AFS. We have only two AFS exchange students in our community this year, Monica from Costa Rica and Giulia from Italy. From them, their host families, their liaisons, and all the Columbia Gorge AFS supporters we wish you and yours a Healthy, Happy New Year--2009!

During December three projects kept us busy, the annual grapefruit/orange fundraiser where many supporters helped Rymmel Lovell, Columbia Gorge Chair

Westside Mexican Potluck Westside Cluster Mexican Potluck was held at the home of Kathleen, Gary and London Peters, host family to Juulia from Finland on Sunday November 16th. In attendance were the following students and their host parents: London, host sis of Juulia; Lena, Marte, Juulia, Carlotta; host sis of Carlotta, Michelle; Dian, Teya, and Teya’s sibs, Erica and Colin. It was a great party and plans are in the works for winter break gatherings.

SE CLUSTER NEWS The SE Cluster’s November meeting was hosted by Michele Vixathep, liaison for Mark from Hungary. Mark is being hosted by Janet and Mark Gardner. He was our speaker for the afternoon. Mark gave a very informative talk about Hungary , the history of his country, their independence from U.S.S.R., the gypsies, and the excitement of getting their first rotary dial telephone in the mid 1990’s. Not everyone was allowed telephones before their freedom from U.S.S.R. The next SE Cluster Meeting will be held on Sunday, January 11 at the Pedersen/Deussen family’s home (Feroz’ host family), 4016 SE 79th Ave., Portland. It will be a potluck. Time 3:00-6:00 p.m. Feroz will give a presentation on India. We welcome into the SE Cluster the Robbins/Law family, the replacement family for Tiantian (China). And a special thanks to Mindy and Mark Roddy, an interim family, who hosted Tiantian for a short time prior to her move. Mindy also recruited this family. Thank you , Mindy. Bernice Schuchardt 8

YOUR AFS WORLD EASTSIDE HOLIDAY PARTY The Eastside Holiday Party was held at the Weslyan Emmanuel Church in SE Portland on Saturday night, December 6. There was a good turn-out, including guests from the West side of town. There was a lot of tasty food, including some international entrees. There were so many desserts that they were set out on a table of their own.

◄ Mark Gardner MC-ing the White Elephant exchange.

The evening started out with a table set up for making Christmas crafts…Christmas decorations, necklaces with bright colored bells and ribbon were created by boys as well as girls. Then came the Christmas Bingo, and, as I recall, Boerge Pedersen, Feroz’ host dad, had the luckiest “bingo” cards.

▲ The craft table

▲Mark from Hungary making a special Christmas necklace for Bernice

The main event of the evening was the “White Elephant” gift exchange. Mark Gardner, our experienced and witty “MC” ran the show. Everyone was given a number. When No. 1 was called, the person holding that number selected a gift from the table. When No. 2 was called, that person had the choice of selecting a gift from the table or taking No. 1’s gift. Then No. 1 would select a new gift, etc. A gift could only be traded 2 times. Little Adam Wolfe always chose the most popular gifts so was involved in the most trades. At the end of the evening some of the traders who took his candy gifts shared their candy with him. He was a great sport and the star of the event. It was a fun evening with a lot of laughs.

▲ Lucia from Spain during the White Elephant exchange.

▲ Little Adam—our star White Elephant trader! Adam is the host sibling of Lucia from Spain.

▲ Patty from Thailand with her new yellow scarf.

▲ Tim Gutfleisch and his exchange student Tom from Brazil.

Hungarian Goulash Recipe—Mark from Hungary 1 pound of beef- cut in small pieces 1 small onion chopped 2 pounds potatoes cut in small pieces 1 small green pepper cut in slices 1 large fresh tomato or 14.5 ounce can of canned peeled tomatoes 2 pinches crushed red pepper flakes 1 pinch caraway seeds 1 clove garlic crushed 1 pinch of cayenne pepper 1 pinch paprika 1 tablespoon tomato paste salt to taste

cubed meat. Brown meat, add garlic and caraway seeds. Add potatoes and cook stirring occasionally until potatoes start to glaze. Add green pepper, tomatoes, tomato paste and green pepper. Add 1 to 2 quarts of water and rest of spices. Cook until potatoes done. Drop noodles into goulash, let cook until noodles done. Noodle recipe: 1 cup flour, 1 egg and 2 to 3 tablespoons water. Mix together until stiff. Kneed on floured board until smooth. Let sit 10 minutes. Break off pieces of dough roll between hands long tube shape about ½ inch in diameter, then pinch off small pieces teaspoon in size and drop in goulash.

Mark from Hungary and his host mother, Janet Gardner Sauté onions and red pepper flakes over low heat, add 2 to 3 prepared this goulash dish for the November Southeast tablespoons of water. After pepper and onions transparent add cluster meeting. 9

VOLUNTEER NEWS/DEVELOPMENT Volunteer Development is an ongoing process. In order to plan for the next generation of volunteers, we each need to take responsibility for inviting a new volunteer along for interviews and trainings. We’ll need three new liaisons for winter-arriving students. Ron and Lynette will be recruiting for group leaders for mid-year orientation. Host Family and participant interviews will be revving up soon. We need to encourage new folks to join the ranks and share the JOY. If you are currently acting in a volunteer capacity, please be sure you have renewed your AFS volunteer registration by going to our www.afscp.com website and re-registering! Please be in touch. Sally Ann Wells, Volunteer Coordinator

WORLDQUEST GLOBAL KNOWLEDGE COMPETITION This competition is free and will take place on February 21, 2009 in the Pamplin Gym at Lewis & Clark College between the hours It’s time to start forming teams for the WorldQuest Global of 2:00 pm and 8:00 pm. Knowledge Competition for High Schools! This includes breaks for an ethnic meal together, a variety of Students, please read the following and see if you would like to be cultural experiences and a chance to meet with International students. Each team will leave with WorldQuest T-Shirts and new part of this fun and enlightening activity. friendships with students from around the world. The winning Parents, I would dearly love to have some of you join me in team will have a chance to compete in the 7th annual National WorldQuest Competition in Washington, D.C. on April 4, 2009. coaching the students. Dear AFS Students and Families,

Academic WorldQuest is a World Affairs Councils Flagship The top three teams will receive an International Trophy to display in their school. program. Please contact me with any questions. Please visit the Academic WorldQuest website for full details. [email protected] Here is a brief synopsis of what WorldQuest is all about: WorldQuest is a team game testing competitors' knowledge of international affairs, geography, history, and culture. Competitions take place at the local level and winners can advance to a national competition in Washington, D.C. Our local competition involves about 45 teams of students from schools in Oregon and Southwest Washington. Each participating school is invited to send one or two teams to show off their knowledge in areas such as culture, religion, language, landmarks, current events, history, geography, flags, people in the news and much more! The competition consists of ten rounds of ten questions each. Each round centers on a given topic. Topics change each year. Our teams are each comprised of up to four students, and will be coached by AFS parents and volunteers. I would like to have teams decided before Christmas. We will meet four or five times in January to discuss study strategies, explain the details of how the competition is run, and go through some test questions. We will probably meet four or five more times in February prior to the competition. NOTE: Because the practice sessions will take place in the Portland area, it would not be feasible for students in the outlying areas (The Dalles, Tillamook, Longview, etc) to participate in the Portland area team. If you are interested in WorldQuest and live in one of these areas, contact your local school officials to see if they have a WorldQuest team or to see if they would be interested in forming one. 10

▲ World Quest 07-08 Team

AREA TEAM Chair Bonnie Richardson-Kott Chair-Elect James Spears Treasurer James Spears (Interim) Hosting Coordinator Sally Ann Wells (Interim)

The Calendar 2009 JAN 19 MARTIN LUTHER KING JR. DAY JAN 24 MID-YEAR ORIENTATION – REQUIRED – This is a required event for all AFS

students. Franciscan Earth Montessori School, Southeast Portland. JAN 24-25 SKI TRIP – This is an optional event. Students will leave after the Mid-Year

Orientation. Must be Pre-Registered.

Sending Coordinator Emily Leis

FEB 14 VALENTINE’S DAY

Orientation Coordinator Ron Combs

FEB 16 PRESIDENTS’ DAY

Support Coordinator Bernie Gerhardt Volunteer Coordinator Sally Ann Wells Liaison Coordinator James Spears Returnee Coordinator Lynette Ledgerwood Newsletter Editor Tami Spears Website Coordinator James Spears CHAPTER/CLUSTER COORDINATORS Beaverton/Hillsboro/Aloha Linda Landreth

FEB 21 WORLDQUEST COMPETITION – Lewis & Clark Campus, Sally Ann Wells (503) 703

-8223 MARCH 7 LEWIS & CLARK COLLEGE INTERNATIONAL FAIR—Portland MARCH 8 DAYLIGHT SAVINGS—”Spring Forward” - Turn your clocks ahead 1 hour MARCH 9 NEWSLETTER ARTICLES DUE—Articles due to Tami Spears [email protected] MARCH 23-27 OREGON SPRING BREAK MAR 30—APRIL 3

WASHINGTON SPRING BREAK

APRIL 24 EARTH DAY MAY 2-4 ASHLAND SHAKESPEARE TRIP – Ron Combs (503) 777-8117 Must be Pre-

Registered. MAY 10 MOTHERS DAY—Don’t forget your Moms! MAY 16, 2009 PRE-RETURN ORIENTATION – REQUIRED – This is a required event for all AFS

students. Columbia Presbyterian Church, Vancouver, WA

Columbia Gorge Rymmel Lovell

MAY 25 NEWSLETTER ARTICLES DUE—Articles due to Tami Spears [email protected]

Columbia County Charlotte & Mike Kocher

JUNE 6 PORTLAND GRAND FLORAL ROSE PARADE

Lake Oswego Lorie James McMinnville/Yamhill County Tami & James Spears

JUNE 21 FATHERS DAY—Don’t forget your Dads! JUNE 28 END OF STAY ORIENTATION – REQUIRED – This is the end of stay. Lents Park,

Portland, OR

North Clackamas Maggie Frieske North/Northeast Chris Cradler Northwest/Southwest Sally Ann Wells Southeast/Gresham/Sandy Bernice Schuchardt Tillamook/Oregon Coast Sue Cudd Camas/Washougal Ruth Ladage Vancouver/Battle Ground Bernie Gerhardt Longview/Kelso/Toledo Debbie Erickson YES/FLEX Student Coordinators Maggie Frieske Rustam Kocher Rymmel Lovell Visiting Teacher Coordinators Barbara Rogers Jerrie Nelson Sally Ann Wells

FG  Dear Host Families, Liaisons, Volunteers, Returnees, Students going Abroad, and Friends: Columbia Pacific AFS has recently made the decision to discontinue mailing hard copies of the newsletter due to the high costs. The exception is our present students, who will still receive a hard copy. This decision went into effect with the March 2008 issue. Future newsletters and earlier editions will be available on www.AFSCP.com. When at that site, go to “View Newsletters”. When viewing the newsletter from this site, you will find everything in color, including photos! Enjoy!!!!! Peace,  Tami 

ED 11

AFS COLUMBIA PACIFIC Tami Spears 1025 NE Irvine St. McMinnville, OR 97128

Want Souvenir/Scrapbook? E-Mail: Ron Combs [email protected] For more information and for our newsletter archives, visit the Columbia-Pacific website at

www.AFSCP.com