YSU's international flavor

UPILS FROM YOUNGSTOWN City Schools are being taken on an around-the-world trip this week, and they don't even have to leave the city to take it.
As part of Youngstown State University's International Education Week, pupils in the fifth grade in city schools are being exposed to cultures from countries around the world -- 56 countries to be exact -- all in Kilcawley Center at YSU.
"We are trying to engage the entire university community in regards to international relations and culture," said Dr. Noah Midamba, interim administrator of YSU's Center for International Studies and Programs.
Midamba said one aspect of the program is an attempt to get the fifth-graders "to understand how interwoven the world is today."
International growth
As an example of our woven culture, Midamba said that, in 2003, the university has only 18 countries represented among its international students.
"This year there are 56 countries represented at YSU," he said. "We hope that this will increase."
Those countries represented at YSU, he said, include India, Ghana, Canada, Kuwait, Italy, Turkey, the Bahamas, Japan and China.
The week's activities began Monday with the presentation of 56 flags from the countries YSU's international students represent. Events will continue through Saturday with a different activity planned each day, he said.
For example, the fifth-graders got a passport and were to have it stamped for each culture they experienced, Midamba explained. "We will take them on a visual tour of the world," he said. "We will expose them to Indian culture, show them what it is like to learn English as a second language and expose them to the United Nations and how it works."
A better grasp
Another aspect of the week's events is trying to give the pupils a better grasp of the geography of the world, he said. Midamba said that the pupils will be shown just how other countries, such as Malaysia and China, contrast to the United States in terms of population, land size and other factors.
Food will also be a factor, he said. The origins of pizza will be examined with pupils getting a taste of the popular Italian food and then getting chance to explore how it was developed.
Furthermore, Midamba said, the final event for the week, the International Festival planned Saturday at Kilcawley Center, "will be the most exciting thing."
Midamba said that food items from the 56 different nations that YSU's international students represent will be sampled. He said the studen`ts will be helping with YSU food services people to prepare the different dishes.
"The [fifth grade] students will return Saturday to taste the foods of other cultures with their parents," he said.
Midamba said the international week is an annual event that is expected to grow in coming years. "It will be a continuous yearly program and we will expand it to other grades," he said. "We are very excited at what is happening here."