By: MATTIE SPINK
Staff Writer
For our 2022-2023 school year, El Diamante has the pleasure of hosting three foreign exchange students, each from different countries. Seeing as this past week was International Education Week, all three of them decided to give several presentations throughout the week that showed off their respective countries and educated other students about their cultures.
During the presentation I witnessed, Roepesh Sohan started with a very informative slideshow on the Republic of Suriname. Suriname is a small country on the northeastern coast of South America, and it is covered with a large tropical rainforest. Roepesh explained how over 94% of Suriname is all forest, causing most of the people that live there to reside along the coast. Roepesh himself is from the Nickerie district of Suriname, a large nature reserve that he noted was mostly lodges built on top of the Nickerie River. Aside from the environment, Roepesh also gave a brief summary of the history of Suriname. Before gaining independence from the Netherlands in 1975, Suriname was known as Dutch Guiana. Its history of being a Dutch colony also explains why Suriname is the only country in South America to speak Dutch. After gaining its independence, Suriname changed its flag. The colors are meant to symbolize the different aspects of the country: red represents progress and hope, white represents freedom and justice, and the green represents the fertility of the land. The yellow star in the center of the flag represents the unity of the country after gaining independence and the golden future they continue to strive for. Roepesh finished his slideshow by comparing his experiences back home to new experiences he is having in the U.S., stating that it’s “very different from [his] country,” but that he likes it a lot.
The next person to present was Erkin Esengeldiev, who presented Kyrgyzstan from Central Asia. Erkin started his segment by requesting a volunteer. I personally had the golden opportunity to volunteer, in which he made me toss a lamb bone (which is often used in kids’ games that Erkin claims they play in Kyrgyzstan) to determine which slideshow he would be showing first. Ultimately he ended up starting with a slideshow about the different cultural foods that the people of Kyrgyzstan eat. Compared to Roepesh’s presentation, Erkin’s was a lot more lighthearted and informal. Rather than going into many specific details about the history of Kyrgyzstan, Erkin focused on entertaining those watching his presentation and telling lots of fun facts about the food and culture of his home. Erkin shared some of the most iconic dishes from his home, such as boortsog (fried dough) and beshbarmak (noodles with boiled meat and onions), and compared eating in Kyrgyzstan to eating in the U.S. According to him, the food here is very good but comes in very large portions compared to what he’s used to. Even though they make lots of food in Kyrgyzstan, it is meant to feed a whole family rather than individuals. Despite these large portion sizes that Erkin usually can’t finish, he has no problem eating the loads of candy that can be found in the U.S. His favorite candy from here is Laffy Taffy, among other candies that aren’t made in Kyrgyzstan. Before finally ending his slideshow, he began to talk briefly about the history of Kyrgyzstan, starting by showing the class the Kyrgyzstan flag. Erkin said that Kyrgyzstan is one of the most ancient nations in the world, demonstrating this by explaining how each of the 40 rays on the sun found in the center of the flag represents the original 40 tribes that made up Kyrgyzstan.
Our final presenter was Aru Akhmadieva, presenting Kazakhstan from Central Asia. Aru’s slideshow was full of information like Roepesh’s presentation but was showcased through fun facts (similarly to Erkin’s). Personally, her presentation was my favorite because of this. Aru started off not by telling anything about Kazakhstan itself, but by introducing the class to the FLEX program. FLEX stands for Future Leaders Exchange. The FLEX program is a foreign exchange program that started in the U.S., similar to the YES program that was also started here. However, the FLEX program specifically aims to exchange students from Eurasia/post-Soviet Union countries. Aru went into detail about all of the testing she had to do to be accepted into the program, which only accepts around 1,000 of the 35,000 students that apply annually. Afterward, Aru began to show off some of the things that Kazakhstan is known for. According to her, Kazakhstan was the first country to begin domesticating horses, leading to some of the world’s best horse riders being Kazakh. Kazakhstan hosts over 120 different ethnic groups, the primary languages spoken there being Kazakh, Russian, and English (mostly the younger generations are learning English). The primary religion found in Kazakhstan is Islam, though there is also a semi-large portion of Christianity. Aru herself is from Almaty, the largest city in Kazakhstan. Almaty has a population of 2 million people and hosts several attractions such as the Big Almaty Lake, Kok Tobe (an amusement park), and Medeu (a skating rink located at high altitudes). Aru ended her presentation by showing the class some of the music from Kazakhstan, claiming that the Kazakh people often address social issues through music.
Needless to say, I was incredibly impressed by everyone’s presentations and felt that I had learned a lot more about the world in general after listening to them all. Thank you to all three of our foreign exchange students who decided to share about their culture during International Education Week, El Diamante appreciates you greatly!
Currency from Suriname
Currency from Kyrgyzstan
Art from Kyrgyzstan
Kazakhstan booth
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