The Smithsonian Institution

Today’s session of the Gabfest speaking club (at Window on America center Dnipropetrovsk, Ukraine) was dedicated to the anniversary of the Smithsonian Institution. It turned out that none of the Club members have heard about this organization before. When Smithsonian logo was presented to the group only the tenth guess was correct - that it was the logo of a museum.
To introduce the museum we have used several YouTube videos. The most enjoyable was a video hosted by Ben Stiller. This actor is known to those club members who watched the movie “The night at the museum”.
The comprehension of the content was checked by offering a list of questions about the museum and its history. The strange facts fascinated the group- a late English scientist James Smithson left his estate to his nephew, with a curious clause stating that if his nephew died without heirs, the estate would go to the people of the United States - to found a museum in the City of Washington under the name of Smithsonian Institution. We have discussed the mission of the museum and its role in the American society. The club members were encouraged to examine the facility’s book display dedicated to the Smithsonian Institution.

The second part of the session was used to discuss the latest news in American-Ukrainian relations. The highlight of the discussion was introduction of the new US Ambassador in Ukraine Mr. Geoff Pyatt. We have listened to his video introduction on the official site and started to prepare video questions for the Ambassador.
Introduction ritual for new comers was a good conclusion for this educational session.

Have a look at more pictures, please