First Meeting - 20/10/2008

The International 16 is based at the International Society at the University of Manchester in Manchester, UK.  The 2008/2009 International 16 brings 16 students (and one dog!) from fifteen different countries together for a uniques shared educational and cultural experience.  The group attend regular meetings and workshops together and work towards promoting international friendship and raising cultural awareness.

Every year, the 16 create a performance and workshop which includes songs, stories, dances and games to help introduce children to other cultures.

This year's 16 is:

Alba (and Tori the dog, our official mascot) - Spain

William - France

Annis - Malaysia

Claudia - Portugal/Cape Verde

Achin - India

Dwi - Indonesia

Maksim - Russia

John - Hong Kong

Dragos - Romania

Paul - Germany

Aleksandra - Poland

Maria - Mexico

Wendy - USA

Kirsten - The Netherlands

Artem - Russia

Washington - Zimbabwe

We would never exclude Sam, our British director and fearless leader.  He works for the International Society and came up with the idea of the 16 some years ago.

The idea is to post what goes on at our meetings on this blog, extending our goal of making other people aware of different cultures.  At our meetings each week, one person will be giving a short presentation about their country, and I hope that a condensed version of that will be available here.  As for our initial meeting, we learned everyone's names and where they are from.  It doesn't seem like much, but for me personally, it was tough.  Being in a different country with a lot of strangers means learning new names every day!  

Cheers!

Wendy