"March 6 was Ghana's independence day so it was a three day weekend and I traveled with my host mother to visit her daughter in another small village in the Eastern region, about 5 hours by tro-tro with a vehicle change in Accra. I am really getting the "true" African experience as I am living, eating, and traveling cross-country as an Ghanaian would. If I had merely came as a Western tourist I never would have experienced much of what I have even in just the first week alone...eating goat liver and foufou (a local staple made of pounded maize and cassava that is like a big lump of dough and meant to simply be swallowed as it is incredibly sticky and gummy if you try to chew it, not to mention awful tasting, as I discovered with my first bite....they are got a good laugh at me trying to chew it!!!), living in the home of a Ghana woman, being introduced with the VIPs and other dignitaries at the sports meet, even greeting the competitors and awarding winning certificates, being the only white face in a sea of black!"
"I am currently in the midst of an internship [SPAN 369] in La Paz, Bolivia. I am volunteering in a local private school to help with their English classes.
Keeping track every three (3) days of my progress in Spanish
Keeping track of new expressions and works learned as well as percentage spoken (in Spanish)
Determining how well I'm improving in the language
Maintaining records of lesson plan
I am pursuing a B.A. degree in Foreign Languages and Literatures with an emphasis in Spanish with a Teacher's licensure. I am going into my junior year. I will be giving a presentation in Dr. Carolyn Dunlap's methodology class (Fall 2004) on the teaching methods I [will] have learned. In addition, I will also be giving a presentation on Bolivian history and culture in the Latin-American History class the same semester."
China
Charlie Englehart
Spring 2003
Charlie Englehart (center), a graduate student in International Studies having dinner with other teachers. He taught English in China from January to May 2003 and earned internship credit from the GPIS program.
England
Matthew N. DeGrand Summer 2003
"I work for John Whittingdale OBE MP, Shadow Secretary for Culture, Media, and Sport (Maldon and East Chelmsford). I do primarily administrative work that includes, sifting through responding to correspondence. The other half of my job is conducting research on public policy issues that pertain to Mr. Whittingdale's shadow cabinet position such as the 2012 London Olympic bid, the licensing and communications bills, etc."
Danielle Falardeau Summer 2003
"I am going to be working for a women's sportswear company called Asquith. I will be doing a lot of PR for the company as well as contacting retail buyers to see if they are interested in carrying the line. I will also be assisting in going over all the sample garments for the '04 collection and helping make changes to the garments with the designer, Alice Asquith."
Natsuko Hanada Summer 2003
"I started my internship on June 9th and will be working until the end of July this summer. I am doing my internship for a company called "The Miracleagency" owned and run by a woman. She designs women's apparel, accessories, and interior goods and sell them to buyers. Basically what I have been doing it marketing her merchandise. I have also been reading many magazines and made a list of editors and contact info, doing market research, product research In addition, I will be helping her coordinate press books and photo shoots. She [employer] asked me to write a paper about what I think about her company, what I think she can do to make it better, and how I think she should market her merchandise. I am majoring in Occupational and technical studies, fashion at ODU, and it has been a great experience to do my internship in one of the most famous cities for fashion in the world."
Lindsey Hopkins Summer 2003
Linday will be doing an international internship in London related to fashion, as well as taking fashion/marketing classes this summer.
Japan
Pei Chen Low Summer 2003
"I am a senior majoring in International Business with a minor in Japanese Studies. I plan to graduate in December 2003 with my Bachelors Degree. I am currently working for Sumitomo Heavy Industries, LTD. in Tokyo, Japan for 2 months. This internship is for Business and Engineering students who minor in Japanese studies. Sumitomo also provides $5000 scholarship to students. I do all kind of stuffs in the company. So far, I have done data analysis, data collection and market research for the company.."
Bryan Robinson Sumitomo Internship Systems Engineering
"Since the company had never had any computer engineers before, I was put in an experimental position. It was difficult, but I did the best that I could. Mostly, I developed some software for the company, but I also attended meetings and did presentations (even in Japanese!) just like everyone else in the systems engineering group. It was great, and definitely the best time of my life. I learned more about myself and about life in those short two months than I ever did in my 4 years at ODU. I had expected more interaction with people, but since I studied computers, it was not too surprising that most of my time was spent in front of a computer. After works hours though I did get to socialize with other employees."
"At MEMRI (Middle East Media Research Institute), I helped with current research projects and some English translation. At Profile, I basically worked as an office receptionist/secretary. I verified trades of stocks, bonds and mutual funds. I opened accounts for clients and handled paper work and communication. I also handled specific problems with client accounts... My mind was greatly expanded in relation to international politics and also gave me an eyewitness to the problems faced by Israel. Personally, I grew very attached to Jerusalem and the culture. My own lifestyle was greatly affected and changed by living in Israel. It was an incredible experience. It is just good for ones own thinking to travel outside the USA and see there is life and different cultures thriving elsewhere."
