Countdown of foreign songs that have made a mark on American culture…
#1) Gangnam Style, by PSY - South Korea
Obviously this song is dominating U.S. pop culture right now. You’d be hard-pressed to find a college kid who doesn’t know the Gangnam Style dance. Here’s the University of Oregon marching band performing the song at one of the university’s football games.
Had way too much fun today thinking about how interesting it is that Gangnam Style has taken over U.S. pop culture. So much fun that I got to thinking about other foreign songs that have made their mark in American pop culture. Stay tuned for 5 of the big ones…
Wondering what the typical student wears to college or university? Check out a collection of photos from students on their way to the first day of school.
(via What to Wear on Your First Day at a US College « VOA Student Union)
We’re recruiting new writers for the 2012-2013 school year! Here’s information on how to apply:
We are seeking talented and creative writers to contribute to the Student Union blog about international student life in the US.
As a regular blogger, you will share your experiences, challenges, triumphs and lessons learned with other current and prospective international students. You will have a lot of freedom to write about what is important or interesting to you, and will have an opportunity to help shape the blog’s direction and to experiment with multimedia journalism and innovative forms of storytelling.
You will also come away with a portfolio of professional writing, and we will work with you throughout your internship to help perfect your writing and storytelling skills.
Visit the Student Union at http://blogs.voanews.com/student-union for more information about what we do and to see the work contributed by our previous writers.
You must:
- Have exceptional writing skills
- Be a current college/university student (or be applying to college/university this year)
- Be willing to contribute at least once a month when school is in session
- Multimedia skills (video, audio, photography) would be a plus
We’re looking for people from a range of backgrounds, majors and degree levels (grad and PhD students included). Last year’s writers included a high school exchange student, a community college student, and undergraduate and graduate students everything from biology to classics to journalism.
We are located in Washington, DC, but you do not need to be local to apply. In fact, we are looking for people from around the country who can provide a variety of perspectives.
To apply:
Submit a cover letter and a writing (or multimedia) sample to jstahl@voanews.com. Please be sure that either your cover letter or one of your writing samples tells us a bit about who you are – where you’re from, where you go to school, what you study, etc.
Application deadline: September 24, 2012
Questions? Contact Jessica Stahl – jstahl@voanews.com
Here are our top 5:
1) Packing the wrong things
2) Not getting involved on campus right away
3) Looking the wrong way crossing the street
4) Overdoing it on American food
5) Not asking for help when we needed it
Here are our tips for avoiding these mistakes: http://blogs.voanews.com/student-union/2012/08/27/5-freshman-mistakes-we-made-that-you-shouldnt/
What mistakes have you made that you want to help others avoid? Share your wisdom!
Conde Nast takes an interesting look at how international travel has changed over the past 25 years. Some ways are obvious (the Euro replaced 20 currencies!) and some surprising (the largest cruise ship today holds 8,702 - about 3x as many as the largest cruise ship in 1987!).
Two things that I didn’t know were recent innovations:
- Rolling luggage; invented in 1987
- No untickets passengers allowed to the airport gate; instituted in 2002
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One more fun way to look at US states - Google autocomplete!
US states as TV shows - follow up to previous post of US states as movies
(via Andrew Shears – The Popular Feedback Remix: 50 States, 50 TV Series)
Stories and advice about studying in the U.S. from current international students.
Visit our full site at http://blogs.voanews.com/student-union
