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Local Connections. Global Community.
September 2008
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Era Pic

Ever since FIUTS began to produce International Student Orientation events at the UW (somewhere around 30 years ago!) FIUTS Facilitators have played a key role in welcoming their peers and providing important transition support to new students. Facilitators greet and welcome students, lead social activities, serve as panel presenters, and support FIUTS staff at events of all sizes.

As the student population has grown, more and more facilitators have gotten involved in FIUTS programs. This fall, almost 100 facilitators will support orientation in some way. This tight-knit group of students and recent alumni, both international and domestic, graduate and undergraduate, become the core of our community for the coming year and inspire new groups of students through their example.

FIUTS Facilitators extend the reach of our mission to engage people from around the world in a lifetime of international friendship and understanding. Thank you to all of our facilitators, past and present, for helping to build peace in this simple and powerful way.

Era Schrepfer,
FIUTS Executive Director
era@fiuts.org

barbecue
Join FIUTS for this year's Welcome BBQ. Hundreds of students, host families, and other members of the FIUTS community will celebrate the start of the year at this informal welcome to the UW and Seattle.

This year's BBQ will be held Friday, September 12, from 6-8 pm at Woodland Park, picnic shelter areas #1 and #3. Hot Dogs, chips, and drinks will be provided. Enter Woodland Park from N. 50th Street at Woodlawn Avenue N.
2006 Boat Cruise
Are you a Rotary Club member? Join FIUTS for the annual International Student Cruise. More than 350 new international students attend this event, which has been produced by local Rotary clubs for more than 30 years.

The cruise is an excellent opportunity to meet students during their first days in Seattle and share advice and support to them as they adjust to their new home. The cruise will be held on Sunday, September 21, and the boat boards at noon.

Contact your club president for more information on how to join FIUTS on the cruise. Sorry - the cruise is open only to Rotarians and new students.
60th logo
It's so much fun to hear from people who are planning to travel to Seattle in November. With just two months to go to the FIUTS 60th celebration, plans are in full swing. Online registrations are coming in, and more formal invitations are in the mail. More than 20 Table Captains are calling friends around the corner and across the globe to ensure that it will truly be a celebration that reflects FIUTS' diverse global community and launches the organization towards another 60 years.
Host Family Photo - Bellefuil
Thanks to your overwhelming generosity and hospitality, FIUTS was able to place every student who applied with a host or friendship connection this year! 147 students were placed in homestays and 30 students were matched with Friendship Connections.

What do this year's hometsay & friendship students look like? 45 different countries are represented, the top five countries being China, Germany, Taiwan, Korea and Japan. 12% are fellows and scholars, 30% are graduate students, and 58% are undergraduates.

THANK YOU for welcoming these students and scholars to Seattle - FIUTS hosts and friendship connections help us realize the FIUTS mission and inspire peace, one relationship at a time.
Welcome Night 07
Each year, FIUTS presents several awards to individuals or groups that embody the FIUTS mission of international understanding and peace. This year's awards have just been announced. Please join us in celebrating our inspirational award recipients this year.

For more than fifty years, FIUTS has presented the Shigemura Award annually to an outstanding student, community member or organization that has been especially instrumental in promoting international understanding in our community. This year's Shigemura Award will be presented to China Earthquake Aid, the organization founded by UW students and faculty after the Sichuan Earthquake, for their quick response to the disaster and their ongoing support of earthquake victims.

This Gordon H. Sweany Award is awarded annually to a University of Washington faculty or staff member who has done the most to support International students and international education in the previous year. This year's award will be presented to Kim Lovaas, Assistant Director for International Admissions, for her commitment to ensuring a smooth transition for new international students.

The FIUTS Lifetime Achievement Award provides permanent recognition to a FIUTS volunteer, affiliated group, or partner organization who has been instrumental in promoting FIUTS' mission, building the organization, or providing key leadership and loyal service through many years. This year's Lifetime Acheivement Award will be presented to Kenji and Martha Onishi, for their lifelong commitment to international understanding, and for decades of commitment to FIUTS programs as Homestay Hosts and volunteers.

This year's awards will be presented at the 60th Anniversary Celebration Dinner and Silent Auction on Saturday November 8.
MSP-India
FIUTS will say goodbye this month to India Fitting, FIUTS Manager of Student Programs since February, 2006. India will be leaving FIUTS after Orientation to head to Japan, where she will be teaching English. Thank you, India, for all of your hard work and dedication - we will all miss you.
nicole pic
Nicole Comforto has been selected to replace India as Manager of Student Programs. Nicole has lived and worked abroad in Australia, France, and Peru, as a group leader for the Experiment in International Living and with Worldlink Education. Welcome to FIUTS, Nicole!
Do you have a favorite FIUTS photo? FIUTS has thousands of photos in our collection, but we would love to include your favorites in one of our anniversary slide shows or albums!

If you have a photo - or a bunch - send them to us! We'll incorporate them into photo albums and presentations that will be a big part of the celebration. You can send digital files via email to Era or mail copies of your photos to: FIUTS, Box 352233, University of Washington, Seattle, WA 98195.
questions
Where's the Recipe?

FIUTS needs recipes to include in the anniversary edition of the FIUTS Cookbook!

Do you have a dish that your homestay students have enjoyed? Or one that you learned from an international student? Perhaps just a family favorite or something you've enjoyed overseas?

please send your recipes to FIUTS by email or by mail to:

FIUTS, University of Washington, Box 352233, Seattle, WA 98195

At the intersection of the University of Washington and the community, FIUTS inspires lifelong engagement through activities that build global understanding.
Era Schrepfer
Foundation for International Understanding Through Students (FIUTS)

email: ed@fiuts.org
phone: 206-543-0736
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