Jipei is an international student from China. The title of her piece translates to “The Sea of the Woods and the Land of Snow,” and is a reflection on her three years at Carleton and how she views the United States. The photograph was taken by Bryan Kim, ’06.

Vince’s story is about an independent child and his quest for company.

Photos from Carleton Seminar in China

Chinese Garden Photograph

Pigs and Rabbit Chinese brush painting

“Ode to Culture,” A Classical and Rhythmical Prose Piece in Parallel Style

Chinese Temple Photograph

Roosters Chinese Brush Painting

Horses Chinese Brush Painting

Jenny introduces her poems: Inspried by the rich imagery and Romantic spirit of Baudelaire’s poetry, I borrowed a few of his common themes and wrote these poems on my own. The first describes the passion, joy, and boundless wonder that I hope will keep my spirit young even as my body ages. The second recounts the brief story of how a single glance, accompanied by a background melody, brought two people together without the need for words.

Pinshane introduces her piece: Everyone has a story, one that caused something deep inside him to reverberate when he heard it. For me, it is the legend of Mulan. As a child, “Mulan” was a bedtime tale. Then, when I was older, I watched it come to life on the movie screen. Now, I recount briefly that ancient Chinese tale, by no means uncolored by its Disney version or undiminished by the ravages of time. Instead, I present you with the story of Mulan that lives within my mind today, with all the inaccuracies and embellishments that make it uniquely mine.

Theresa’s piece is written in the style of "Lettres Persain" and "Lettres Peruvian," in which a complete stranger comes to see Carleton for the first time. She wrote it for her "Litterature de l'autre" class last year.

The following two stories are creative exercises in writing about human interaction with the landscape. In the first text Ben describes a mediterranean landscape which the character takes refuge in after leaving the oppressing city. The protagonist perceives Nature as endless, peaceful and all-mighty which frees him and gives him enough strength to return to his normal life. In the second story Allison describes the sensations of the sea, the sand and the wind on the human body as group of young adult girls have a campfire and go swimming late on a summer night. There is a rivalry of power installed between the girls and the sea.

Nick introduces his story: The not-so-evil witch is a tale of adventure, mystery, and intrigue where one witch’s patience and desire to be loved is put to the test. The moral of the story is to be nice, especially to witches. Enjoy!

Aaron and Molly’s poem begins with the subject in a highly negative state of mind and expressing his or her emotions, using the repeated phrase immer wieder (again and again). They chose to imply the subject, ich, by using the first-person singular form, and because they liked the flow of that form more than the infinitive form. As the poem forges ahead, the subject displays progressively less negative states of being, until, at the center of the poem, there is a turning point as the subject begins to first hope (hoffen) and then change (ändern). The work continues with each earlier emotion being resolved in reverse order, that is, the less negative ones first until the subject is eventually transformed from a state of pain to one of joy. The poem concludes with the subject being so overcome with happiness that he or she ends the poem in a joke.

Professor Anne Ulmer introduces her students’ poems: In my German 312 course, Rilke and His Circle, students wrote one paper that included a poem. They were to write something in Rilke’s style, and then to analyze what they considered the most and least successful aspects of their own work. Here are the poems they produced.

Last summer Jennifer spent a day doing a bike tour in her hometown with her mom. She shares photos with us from that day and tells us about life in Am Mellensee.

Anna introduces her essay: I spent the fall of 2004 in Munich and Wittenberg on the Carleton German Seminar. The essay below was our last assignment for the program and brings together many aspects of my five weeks in Wittenberg. It tells of the things I learned about grammar, about myself, and about German history. It’ll give you a peak into the life of a Carleton student traveling abroad and for me it brings back wonderful memories.

This poem attempts to capture a cross-section of the various stages of human existence. By only using adjectives, we hope to describe life in the truest sense of the word. Each line represents a different stage of life and its particular outlook on life. In the end, the poem tries to illustrate the complex and overwhelmingly contradictory nature of Nature’s most peculiar beast, Humanity.

Taylor’s essay is about discovering a deeper love for another language through poetry.

Jacob introduces his essay: This essay addresses some of the central questions in an Israeli television program on accommodating Jewish Orthodox and non-Orthodox lifestyles within one family. I discuss my prediction that in coming episodes of the show, an Orthodox husband and a more secular wife will stay together despite the husband's request that his wife go to the Jewish ritual bath for women, the mikveh, on a regular basis, so they can preserve their sex life.

Japanese calligraphy

Japanese Caligraphy

Toshiki is an international student from Japan, and in this piece he tells us about a wonderful employment opportunity in his home country.

Japanese calligraphy

Japanese calligraphy

Japanese calligraphy

Japanese calligraphy

Ryan introduces his essay: My article is about the new formation of East Asian foreign policy. I argue that a tri-polar power world system is necessary for the present world. The U.S., unified East Asian arena, and the EU will structure the tri-power world and that is the best way to keep the balance of “powers”. I used some Chinese classic characters from “Three Kingdoms” because they’re a perfect example for a view of the tri-polar world.

Violette was born and grew up in the Democratic Republic of Congo (ex-Zaire). Her poem is written in Lingala, one of several languages spoken there and is a reflection on the question of suffering in the world. The answer the poem provides is relief from God because He is Love!

Dashini is an international student from Malaysia. Her following untitled Malay poem deals with the transient nature of meetings and the inevitability of separation.

Roddy spent the fall term in Moscow where he met many American tourists.

Sasha shares her favorite three Russian recipes: Roulette (lemon pastry), Sharlotka (apple pie), and Hachipuri (cream cheese puff). They are easy to make and very tasty.

A group of students enrolled in Russian Theater in the 20th Century went to Minneapolis, to see the Chekhov play “The Cherry Orchard” at the Theater in the Round. Excerpts of reviews they wrote of the play follow:

Students of Elementary Russian 101 wrote the following stories during the fall term. The first one is about Americans in Africa; the second is about President Kennedy in Cuba; and the third is a tale about a grandmother, a polka-dotted hen, and a hungry cat.

Sasha wrote a story based on the animated film “Gagarin.” It is a story about a caterpillar who desperately wants to attempt to fly, but after his first experience he changes his mind...

Written for an intermediate Spanish class, this essay looks into the mother-son relationships in the movie Todo Sobre Mi Madre (directed by Pedro Almodóvar, winner of the 1999 USA Academy Award: Best Foreign Language Film —Spain). The relationship themes are compared through the essay to a personal story. Keifer, a little neighbor boy, experienced the tramautic death of his mother only weeks after his parent’s divorce. The two stories relate in the themes of holding onto loved ones after they are gone yet moving on.

Lisseth, an international student from Peru introduces her piece, “A discourse of Lima in Northfield”: Sometimes when I get lost, I dream in a different language. This language is far from me, and if it’s worth something it’s quiet and steadfast, like a breath in the wind of those red afternoons in Northfield, when I remember Lima.

Ariane introduces her Spanish piece: This essay expresses my views on poetry in the novel “Ardiente Paciencia”: the beginning of the novel intertwines love and poetry but its end confronts poetry with war. For me, poetry is the only way to express some things that are too hard to bear or to express in a normal way.

Katie introduces her poem: I was lucky enough to learn Swahili from some amazing Kenyan people during the time I spent in Eastern Africa. Swahili was developed as a trading language and is now spoken in East Africa as well as some other places in Africa. This poem is about being affected by Kenya and its people, and my feelings upon returning to America.

Swahili, is a language in which words, even without tonal exaggerations, retain their intended emotional effect. This Swahili poem, written in short sentences is a cry for a mother by her children. Specifically, it personifies the prevailing tragic cries of Mother Africa’s children in this era of inexorable modernization and globalization.