Over the semesters my comments have focused

Harrisonburg, VA 22802
February 2013
Kathleen’s Corner
Over the semesters my comments have focused
on the students and the program at IEP. I
believe, however, that the IEP is a great place to
study because of the teachers who teach here.
There are some interesting facts about the IEP
teachers that make them such great teachers and
that make what they do at the IEP so inspiring.
The combined teaching experience of IEP
lecturers and teachers is over 120 years! The
teachers have also taught in 13 different countries
on five continents. Combined the teachers can
speak eight languages, some of them several.
These are people who know what it means to
teach a language and what it takes to learn a
language. They are also people who remember
what it feels like to live in a culture that is
different than home. Finally, it is an honor for me
to be able to work with these wonderful, and
wonderfully talented teachers. I believe it is also
an honor for you to study under their expert
teaching. Thank you to each of the fabulous
people who have given us the gift of teaching at
the Intensive English Program of Eastern
Mennonite University.
grew up a little, I enjoyed playing the role of a
housewife more and more. Every day after school,
my friend and I used to join together and play.
Usually, we collected sticks and made the shape of
a house. Also, we took our kitchen toys and play
furniture to decorate our imaginary house. At
present, I enjoy seeing my family happy. I love
going out, seeing my daughter play around and
smile, and barbequing in the garden.
Important Dates
Have you ever wondered what a snowflake
looks like up close? This is a real photo!
Student Ideas for Fun Things to Do
Questions and Reflections
Spend time with your daughter and family –
Ahmed Obaid
Go skiing with friends – Abdullah Alqahtani
Learn gardening and cooking – Tuyet Pham
Play cards with friends – Raed Alruwaili
Watch movies with your buddies –
Wejdan Althurwi
Play soccer with your kids – Waleed Obeid
Ride a bicycle in the park – Mirella Rodriguez
Hang out with friends – Ahmed Wahbah
Go see a movie in the theater – Mike Mutombo
IEP students are hard workers, but also have fun
in exciting ways and have many stories to tell of
special adventures. This month, we asked
students to reflect on their recreational habits,
past and present, and tell about special times in
their lives.
The writings in this edition of the IEP Times were
produced by the students who are studying in the
IEP during the Spring semester 2013. Thank you
to the students and the teachers for their
contributions. The director of IEP is Kathleen
Roth.
▲ Improve your English skills!
▲ Enhance your education!
March 1-10: Spring Break
March 15: No class
March 22: Games and Pizza
March 26: IEP Field Trip
April 23-24: Final Exams
▲ Press forward in your career!
In conclusion, every stage of our life has its own
tastes and interests. The most important thing is
to enjoy every part of it that makes us happy.
– Eman Abu Alwah
When I was a child, my parents were both working
full time, so I lived with my grandparents for many
years until I was elementary school age. My
grandma believes that girls should not go out to
play around, so she taught me knitting and
embroidery since I was five. She said that I
surprised her because I learned it very fast and
really enjoyed doing it. I remembered my first
knitting process was to make a pair of socks for
my grandpa. Next, I made gloves for myself. After
that, I started to do pants and sweaters. My mom
said I probably inherited some genes from my
grandmother, because none of the girls in our
family could knit or embroider well except for the
two of us.
Question: What is an activity you enjoyed when
you were a child? What do you do for fun now?
When I was a child, I enjoyed playing with others.
There was not a specific game that I preferred. If
there were many children, we chose games that
involved running and chasing. When I played with
my sister, we preferred dolls. Now that I am
grown up, I’ve lost the energy that I had when I
was a child.  When I’m alone, I watch dramas or
what with my friends. Even if I am with other girls,
we prefer simple games with cards or board
games. Once in a while, we play sports like soccer
or basketball that force us to exercise.
– Norah Alobikan
Intensive English Program
Eastern Mennonite University
1200 Park Road
Harrisonburg, VA 22802-2462
USA
2242
Please contact IEP at (540) 432-4059,
email [email protected] or see our website at
www.emu.edu/iep for more information
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Now that I’m grown up, I’m busy with school and
work most of the time. I don’t have much free
time to have fun. If I do, I’d still like to do some
knitting and embroidery. It makes me remember
my special childhood.
Being a child was the most exciting period in my
life! When I was a little girl, my older brother was
my best friend. I used to go with him everywhere
he went. The activities that I enjoyed most were
playing in the sand and playing the role of a
– Grace Yuan
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Playing with Barbies was an activity I enjoyed
when I was a child. Now I like to spend time with
my friends or watch movies for fun, or surf on the
internet to discover new things. Actually, I don’t
have enough time for fun because of my busy
days. I go to school, I work, and I get home around
8:30 PM. I study and do homework, review my
class material, and then fall asleep because it is
past 10:30 and I’m tired.
– Justizia Kassegne
A Special Day in the Village
I loved to spend summer time in the village. My
grandparents had a beautiful house there. Amid
birch and aspen and pine forests there was the
big, beautiful meadow where the villagers grazed
cows. My older cousins went to meadow to feed
cows with grandfather. I wanted be with them too
but I was just five years old and they did not take
me. One day, however, my grandfather said that I
could come! I could finally see the sunrise that my
cousins told me about; I could find out what it
means to feed cows; I could participate in a
special lunch in the meadow!
were so hungry! It was simple food like cold boiled
potatoes with fresh green onion, some eggs and
milk. Grandma also gave us some homemade
cheese as desert. It was delicious, although it was
really simple. We prayed and thanked God for the
beautiful day. We also thanked God for the tasty
food. We rested under a big tree with broad
branches, and listened instructive stories from our
grandfather. He told stories from Bible and from
his difficult but interesting life. We thought about
all the words Grandfather told us.
Interview with Ahmed Alobaid,
IEP Athlete
The time with our grandfather that we spent on
the meadow was very exciting and important for
me. The beautiful sunrise in the morning showed
the wonderful landscape around us, the cows
taught me to be patient and careful, and lunch
was natural and restful. As we walked home, I
understood that it was not a day just for fun, but it
was a hard responsibility. It was good experience
for me because today I can analyze all my life and I
can compare my life with my grandfather’s. I
understand that my problems are not as bad. I
know now that I will teach my children how to
love and listen to God because my grandfather
and grandmother taught me.
Answer: I ran in Italy in 2004 in the World
Championships, Malaysia for the Asian
Championships in 2006, the 2008 World
Championship in China, and different
competitions in Sri Lanka, Thailand, and other
countries.
– Natalia Dubina
When special day had come, I had to wake up
around four o’clock in the morning. It was dark
and quiet. Cold silvery dew was on blades of grass.
Everybody went to the meadow in the silence, and
we only heard the occasional cow mooing. We
arrived in a happy mood. There were many cows
on the meadow. They were grazing. Butterflies
and dragonflies were flying over me. Soft wind
caressed my hair. The smell of flowers came from
the fields. The sun warmed me. Suddenly, my
grandfather shouted, “Natalia, please turn back
the black cow, it is going the wrong way. Quickly!”
I ran and shouted, “Stop, please stop!” When I
was near the cow, it turned its head and just
looked at me with big, blue-purple eyes. I was
scared. I could not move. We just looked at each
other a few minutes. Then, the cow turned back
to the herd, but I still could not move. Suddenly I
felt my granddaddy took me up on his hands and
carried me. I felt safe in grandfather’s hands.
Then, it was time to have a lunch. The
One IEP student had fabulous adventures as an
athlete in his youth, running internationally for
the Saudi Junior Track and Field team. Your
correspondent interviewed him on his
experiences.
Question: When and where did you compete on
the Saudi team?
Q: How much did you train and how long were
the competition trips in other countries?
A: I began training when I was very small, taking
Karate. I started running more when I was 15. We
trained our running in many different ways, all
year long. When we left for competitions, we
would spend anywhere from one week to three
months in the other country, training, competing,
and seeing the country.
Q: What were the trips like?
A: We did a lot of shopping! Different countries
were very different. Thailand was very beautiful,
but the food was just awful. Sri Lanka and
Malaysia were gorgeous countries to explore.
People were very friendly everywhere, and it was
fun and exciting to get to know people from other
nations.
Q: Did you win anything?
A: Yes, my Saudi relay race team that passes
batons won the silver medal in Malaysia in 2006!
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