Over the days we created a film about W&J college which shows some activities mentioned in this post:
On the 2nd August, our class on Pittsburgh’s development was of a different kind, we reenacted an American city council, which had to decide on an allowance or ban of fracking in their city. We were pleased to welcome an audience: our English teacher Cathy, and our helpers Kenny, Victoria and Andy.
Everybody was assigned to a role in the city ´s community and had to prepare a short presentation, which led to a variety of opinions and a heated discussion about the topic. Our professor Corey further intervened with clarifying questions and so did the council members. At the end, the council decided to allow fracking in our county. The main argument for this outcome was given by our Treasure officer Paul who highlighted the significant reduction of debt if the request will be approved.
This lecture was overall a great experience as we not only got the opportunity to see how an American court operates while simultaneously practicing our English, but it was also a lot of fun since some students dressed up and wore a suit to embody their character or drew signs of protest to make it more realistic.
After we enjoyed another time this extraordinary buffet (it is indeed one of the best ones I’ve ever tried), we worked in our English class on our pronunciation of difficult words and tried out some tongue twister. Afterwards, we had to team up for describing and interpreting a few cartoons by a journalist from Pittsburgh, that got fired recently. Finally, we got the opportunity to show our own creativity by drawing cartoons related to recent politics.
After class, most of us joined Cathy at a local farmer’s market which takes place once a week on a Thursday. This was the perfect opportunity for buying local food including fruits and vegetables, bakery products, wines as well as covering your hands and arms with henna. It allowed us to get easily in contact with locals while enjoying a relaxed atmosphere with live music.
But my absolute highlight of the day was: “Incredibles 2“. For 14 years I waited for this moment to happen – And it was totally worth it! Empty cinema, a lot of (Pittsburgh) Popcorn (which is the best – if you like it extremely sweet) and a funny movie. Some other people decided to go to a local brewery instead.
Now, our second weekend was to come. Yes, on a Friday already! It was filled with plenty cultural activities: understanding how people fixed the great disaster of the 1889 flood in Johnstown, seeing the city through immigrant’s eyes while the late 19th and early 20th century and getting closer to American culture. To do so, we visited Johnstown Flood Museum, the Heritage Discovery Center and Red Robin, respectively. We watched a film about the flood which happened due to a neglected dam and killed 2200 people. In the second museum we followed individually the life of one immigrant which was randomly allocated to us.
Last but not least, I want to introduce Red Robin to you: a burger restaurant which fascinated us by the principle of refill: for drinks, fries and even salad! (That is totally typical in the US)
The end of this day was the beginning of a very special day: 21st birthday of Flo!
Happy Birthday!
- Toni & Jessi
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