FATHER’S DAY

FATHER’S DAY and other Australian holidays.
This afternoon the Gabfest Club’s session was dedicated to the introduction of the Father’s Day. The group was familiarized with the American tradition to celebrate this holiday (June). The illustrative video mentioned that YMCA was one of organizations that helped to spread the idea of the Father’s Day celebration in the USA.  The iconic YMCA song by Village People was introduced to the Club members as well as the popular YMSA disco dance.
The second part of the session was dedicated to the Father’s Day celebration in Australia – this year it is September, 3.  Our Australian volunteers Mr. Eric and Mrs. Iryna made a presentation about Father’s Day traditions. They also introduced other unique Australian holidays – Wattle Day (September, 1), ANZAC Day, Boxing Day, etc. They have told the group about unique Australian plants – wattle flower, waratah flower, macadamia nut. We mentioned other Australian things – vitamin spread VEGEMITE, BYO restaurants (where you can bring your own alcohol), and  plastic wine cask.
 
The group enjoyed the conversation with foreign guests very much.
Participants number – 39 participants.

After meeting IRYNA shared the INSIGHTS into Australian Life with the Gabfest activists.

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Valentine's Day Traditions in USA

Today’s session of the GABFEST Club (at Window on America Dnipropetrovsk, Ukraine) started with a pleasant ceremony. The club members handed a gift of chocolate candies in a heart shaped box to our American volunteer Mr. Jason who had his birthday on Friday. The “Happy Birthday” song and a round of applause was also added to congratulate our American friend whose time and effort is highly appreciated by the WOA staff and the Gabfest club members.
The official topic of the session was “Valentine's Day Traditions in USA”. The first activity offered to the group was new vocabulary and new meanings of the well-known words. The image that introduced the new vocabulary presented numerous objects associated with Valentine’s Day celebration in USA.
Talking about the symbolism of the popular Valentine Day’s images allowed us to introduce films and books from the WOA’s collection. For example, “City Lights” with Charlie Chaplin starring. Chaplin’s character is a dewy-eyed tramp who has fallen in love with a sightless flower girl. The group was introduced to several new elements of the American Valetine’s Day tradition.
We focused on the introduction of the “kissing booths” and the question «Will you be my Valentine?». A kissing booth is a holiday attraction where the person running the booth kisses customers for money, often to raise funds for charity. Domestic animals (dogs, cats) are often used for comedic purposes.
The group was interested in the Valentine’s Day message of President Obama to his wife. The video triggered a heated discussion. It was a good illustration to the difficulties in perception and cross-cultural differences. The Michelle Obama’s book about healthy life style was introduced to the group.
To wrap up the topic we listened and translated the lyrics of the wonderful song “My funny Valentine” performed by Frank Sinatra.
Number of participants – 29 persons.Have a look at more pictures, please

Christmas bells jingle - 6

"Window on America" information and resource center held the 6th meeting of cultural project "Christmas bells jingle". The head of "Window on America" Svetlana Usenko told about the Christmas season in USA and Ukraine to students of the school №40.
The WOA staff introduced the group to some less known symbols of American Xmas. The American flower symbol of Xmas was presented – the beautiful red poinsettia. The nativity scene as a Xmas tradition in the USA was presented and several images were discussed. Several popular Xmas songs were offered to the group and the teenagers happily sang along.
The group listened to the globally popular “Carol of the Bells” A.K.A "Shchedryk" by the Ukrainian composer Leontovich. The iconic song was offered in traditional and modern variations. The group was eager to sing along other Xmas hits – «Jingle bells», “Rudolph the red-nosed reindeer”, “Santa Clause Is coming to town” and others.
Young DOUNB Library friends enjoyed the music. For the teenagers US Christmas is a start of the bright and merry Winter Holiday season! They will remember new facts about the Christian culture, and will learn more about the culture of the friendly American people.
We hope that this presentation will be an extra motivation for the students to learn English.
Number of participants – 8 persons.
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Christmas bells jingle - 5

Christmas Fun for Teenagers – Christmas bells jingle - 5

"Window on America" Information and Resource Center (Dnipropetrovsk / Ukraine) held the fifth cultural event in the project "Christmas bells jingle" for the "American Teen Club" members. The meeting was prepared and moderated by the Future Leaders Exchange (FLEX) program graduates Akastyelova Anna and Olga Chichikalo. The event was attended by the WOA’s American volunteer Mr. Jason.

"Window on America" Center offers all its resources to make the Club sessions interesting, effective and positive at the same time. To break the ice the teenagers played some motion games. The slide show “American traditions and symbols of Christmas” was reviewed with a lot of interest. Teen Club leaders Olga and Anna showed the members how to make DIY festive Christmas paper decorations. Can you imagine a New Year party in Ukraine without sweet treats and tangerines? Teen Club holiday table was no exception.

Teenagers left the library in a good mood and with new knowledge.

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Christmas bells jingle - 4

Christmas Celebration
Today Gabfest Club ("Window on America", Dnipropetrovsk / Ukraine) had a Catholic Christmas session. The session was attended by our foreign guests Mr. Jason and Mr. Paul. The club members were happy to have such a pleasant Xmas surprise, especially the newcomers. As Mr. Paul is recently new to our Club we started the session with the introduction ritual during which the new-comers introduced themselves to the group, the Club’s committee was introduced and the history behind the Club’s name was explained.
The Xmas topic selected for the discussion was “Xmas Attributes in the USA”. This topic allowed introducing symbolic elements of Xmas celebration that are not known in Ukraine, but are very popular in the USA. Thus we talked about such traditional things as advent calendars for children, nativity scenes (art pieces for indoors and life-size for outdoors), poinsettia flowers and wreaths, handmade gifts and Xmas menu. Our native-speaking guests made comments and provided explanations.
At the end of the session the group recited a poem about the Gabfest Club wrote by Svitlana G. – our colleague from the DOUNB Library. The session was wrapped up by a musical farewell – the Club’s activist Valentina, a professional music educator, played Xmas music on the piano. Mr. Jason also demonstrated his playing skills to the fellow club-members.
The Gabfest Club Committee has a long tradition of Xmas parties. The year 2015 was no exception. The fund-rising campaign allowed us to set a beautiful Xmas tea table with the assortment of sweet snacks and season fruit. The table was decorated with handcrafts provided by the WOA’s friends from partner schools.
The highlight of the party was a karaoke competition. The Club members introduced their favorite Xmas songs and urged the fellows to sing along. Mr. Paul introduced a Xmas song popular in the UK. It impressed the group to such extent that people started to twist to the great tune. Some tastes in music differed, but the pop music fans allowed our ex-president Vlad to introduce his favorite hard rock Xmas hit.

The atmosphere of the Gabfest Xmas party was so warm and forthcoming that people of all ages (from teen-agers to retired adults) mixed and mingled and enjoyed each other’s company.
The hilarious spirits will stay with the Gabfest Club members until the New Year and Orthodox Xmas!
Number of participants – 33 persons.
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Christmas bells jingle - 3

"Window on America" information and resource center held the 3rd meeting of its cultural project "Christmas bells jingle". The head of "Window on America" Svetlana Usenko visited students of the specialized school №22 for talking about the Christmas season in USA and Ukraine.
The WOA staff introduced the group to some less known symbols of American Xmas. The American flower symbol of Xmas was presented – the beautiful red poinsettia. The nativity scene as a Xmas tradition in the USA was presented and several images were discussed. Several popular Xmas songs were offered to the group and the teenagers happily sang along.
The group listened to the globally popular “Carol of the Bells” A.K.A "Shchedryk" by the Ukrainian composer Leontovich. The iconic song was offered in traditional and modern variations. The group was eager to sing along other Xmas hits – «Jingle bells», “Rudolph the red-nosed reindeer”, “Santa Clause Is coming to town” and others.
Young DOUNB Library friends enjoyed the music. For the teenagers US Christmas is a start of the bright and merry Winter Holiday season! They will remember new facts about the Christian culture, and will learn more about the culture of the friendly American people.
We hope that this presentation will be an extra motivation for the students to learn English.
Number of participants – 65 persons.
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Christmas bells jingle - 2

"Window on America" information and resource center held the 2nd meeting of its cultural project "Christmas bells jingle". "Window on America" staff Svetlana Usenko and Tamara Gavryliuk decorated the premises for Christmas – in traditional color scheme and with hand-made gifts from partner school kids. A Christmas tree was put up with lovely decoration. The 8th year students of the specialized school №23 visited the facility at the start of the Christmas season in Ukraine. The meeting was attended by the WOA’s American volunteer Mr. Jason which was a pleasant surprise for the teachers and students. The group arrived with an assortment of Xmas cookies and had a nice Xmas tea ceremony with the WOA staff.
The WOA staff introduced the group to some less known symbols of American Xmas. The American flower symbol of Xmas was presented – the beautiful red poinsettia. The nativity scene as a Xmas tradition in the USA was presented and several images were discussed. Several popular Xmas songs were offered to the group and the teenagers happily sang along.
The presence of our American volunteer gave the students an opportunity to practice their speaking skills. They asked Mr. Jason numerous questions about his family Xmas traditions, his impressions of Ukraine and Dnipropetrovsk.
The group listened to the globally popular “Carol of the Bells” A.K.A "Shchedryk" by the Ukrainian composer Leontovich. The iconic song was offered in traditional and modern variations. The group was eager to sing along other Xmas hits – «Jingle bells», “Rudolph the red-nosed reindeer”, “Santa Clause Is coming to town” and others.
Young DOUNB Library friends enjoyed the music and the warm atmosphere of the Xmas tea party. They will take from the library back home the wonderful memories of meeting a real American. For the teenagers US Christmas is a start of the bright and merry Winter Holiday season! They will remember new facts about the Christian culture, and will learn more about the culture of the friendly American people.
We hope that this festive tea party with an American guest at the "Window on America" center will be an extra motivation for the students to learn English.
Number of participants – 21 persons.
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Christmas bells jingle - 1

«Window on America» Dnipropetrovsk information and resource center held the first meeting of its cultural project «Christmas bells jingle». The 4th year students of the specialized school №23 visited the facility at the start of the Christmas season in Ukraine.
The librarians told the group about the background of Xmas characters – the Ukrainian St. Nicholas and the American Santa Claus. The American flower symbol of Xmas was introduced – the beautiful poinsettia. Typical American festive meals, gifts and entertainment were also presented. "Window on America" staff Svetlana Usenko and Tamara Gavryliuk decorated the premises for Christmas – in red and green color scheme and with hand-made gifts from partner school kids. A Christmas tree was put up with lovely decoration. Students learned a Xmas set of new words, watched a few Xmas videos, and listened to globally popular “Carol of the Bells” A.K.A "Shchedryk" by the Ukrainian composer Leontovich. The iconic song was offered in traditional and modern variations. The group was eager to sing along another Xmas hit – «Jingle bells».
Young DOUNB Library friends enjoyed the music and the festive atmosphere. They will take from the library back home the wonderful memories and Xmas spirit. For the kids Christmas is a bright and merry holiday! They will remember new facts about the Christian world, and will learn more about the culture of the friendly American people.
We hope that this festive meeting at the "Window on America" center will be an extra motivation for the students to learn English and read the book!
Number of participants – 24 persons.
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International Tea day

Today’s session of the Gabfest Club (Window on America center Dnipropetrovsk, Ukraine) was dedicated to the InternationalTea day (December, 15).

The task of the session was to compare the tea drinking habits in the USA and in Ukraine, to explain certain details of Russian tea tradition to our American volunteer Mr. Jason.

The group was introduced to an important event in the American history – the Boston tea party. The story was illustrated with the History channel video and comments of Mr. Jason.

The next was Starbucks’ video about Oprah Winfrey blending tea for launching Teavana brand. This allowed to introduce the popular US Brands and new vocabulary.

The second part of the session was dedicated to the Slavic traditions of tea drinking. The group was offered a display of artifacts about drinking tea in Ukraine: samples of iconic Ukrainian china cups, tea glass-holders, air-tight boxes for loose tea, etc. The group had to explain to Mr. Jason a lot of fun facts about the displayed artifacts.

In former times, there was a ‘samovar’ – a kind of kettle for boiling water and keeping it warm- and special glasses (not cups) used for serving hot tea. As china cups came to Russia much later than to other countries, Russians used to drink tea out of glasses with metal glass holders. The fine decorated holders were used both for esthetic and practical purposes preventing the palms from direct contact with hot tea. Those who travelled with the Ukrainian or Russian Railways a couple of years ago could have been lucky to see and even use them. Some rare examples can still be found in grandmothers’ cupboards.

The traditional Russian tea is very simple without any additional flavors. At the same time, it never comes on its own. Tea is always served with something sweet (ginger breads, bread rings “bubliki”), with jam, honey or condensed milk.

The topic was interesting and the session was enjoyed by all the participants.

At the end of the meeting we had a tea party.

Number of participants – 29 persons.

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HALLOWEEN at Gabfest

This Saturday the Gabfest club ("Window on America" (Dnipropetrovsk / Ukraine) was visited by a private English-speaking Club from Novomoskovsk (a town 40 km away from Dnipropetrovsk). The visit of the teenage group was a pleasant surprise as the girls arrived dressed in Halloween costumes, with appropriated make-up and with carved pumpkin “jack-o-lanterns”.
Both clubs were lucky to have our two American volunteers – Mr. Jason and Mr. Kelly. Their presence motivated the club members to demonstrate the best of their English skills. The Novomoskovsk teenagers introduced themselves to the Gabfest club and demonstrated their costumes. The task for the Gabfest club members was to guess what was the name of each girl’s costume. The teenagers also recited rhymes and poems about Halloween and sang a Halloween song.
The second part of the session was dedicated to the introduction of the Halloween vocabulary to the older generation and watching of a Discovery Channel video about the history of the Halloween celebrations. It introduced some popular games (apple bobbing) and pranks (gate stealing, etc).
 

Wrapping up the session we allowed the club members from Novomoskovsk to put questions to our volunteers and to present the major attractions of their own town to them.
After the session the Gabfest Club activists had a Halloween tea party with assortment of local treats: chocolates, cookies and a pumpkin pie home-made by the Club member Valentina. All the participants liked the warm atmosphere of the tea party.
The session had many funny moments and was quite challenging for the Club members as it required knowledge of cultural trivia.
Number of participants – 38 persons.
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Holidays with WOA

On October, 26-27th – 

Window on America center in Dnipropetrovsk was visited by a two groups of primary school students from school 141.

The Library staff told them about the resources available for them and the procedure for enrolling into the library.

The students study two foreign languages, one of them is English. The WOA staff member checked what American autumn holidays the children know about. It turned out they are well aware of the Halloween and Thanksgiving. The new topic for them was celebration of Columbus Day. Some kids even knew who Columbus was.

The groups were shown a number of animated cartoons including excerpt from the movie “Bamby”. While watching the movie the kids had to make a list of animals they saw and give their equivalents in English.

The session was educational for the kids and promoted library services to the primary school students.

Number of participants – 47 persons.

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