The Ad World in Germany

Tonight at dinner we learned a lot about advertising in Germany from Irene and Christoph.  English represents new and modern, so many terms are adopted - whether or not they are appropriate or understood.  For example a carry-all for young girls is marketed as a "body bag".  And during the world cup they attended many "Public Viewings" - places where the game was projected onto a large screen for the benefit of the public.  My favorite is a cosmetic and perfume shop whose slogan is "Come in and find out".When they checked to see what people's understanding of this slogan is, they found that people translate it  as "Come in and try to find the exit".

Oh, for the public viewing they use a Beamer - that's a projector.  And the common term for a cell phone is a "handy".

The Art Gallery



The Art Gallery in front of the School of Architecture

 Toma is converting an old shipping container that is sitting in front of the school of architecture into an art gallery in which to display student work – maybe faculty work too.

Oliver filling holes in the walls

 He wants to have it all ready by this Thursday which is graduation for the 2010 class.  Friday he was frustrated because the electricians did not arrive, so Saturday Ron (who knows how to wire) and I (unskilled labor) volunteered.


Toma creating ART




I'm helping to create the ART only I don't know what it will be

Getting the wiring done was really important.  Ron did it.



Ron the Electrician

We got a lot done.     There were lights by evening. 

Football fans

Last Weekend there was a big soccer game played in Kigali at Amohoro stadium.  I saw fans on their way to the game as I was walking around the city.  Here they are:

APR won the game 3-2 over Rayon Sport.  

 

 

More music

More music:  Christian is also in a group called Black Diamonds  and we went to hear them at “One Love” guesthouse and club.  They started after 9 p.m. ( Ron and I were up way past our bedtime).  It started off with jazz – and they were hot – in fact, so hot that in the middle of one piece, they blew out the electricity.   They continued the piece with a long drum solo (no amplification needed) but that could not go on all night so there was a pause in the music.   Lots of people pulled out cell phones which double as flashlights while repairs were made.  The music continued after electricity was restored – Ron and I left at about 11:30 but Christoph, Irene, and the other Ron from Newton, MA had all started dancing by then so they stayed on.

My math majors

A little more from class:  this is my class of math majors taking differential equations. 

They are taking a quiz in this first picture. 

The students are very strong and eager to learn.  I plan to ask permission to photocopy a couple of completed homework assignments as examples of what well-done homework   should look like.  This group has class from 8 to 11 Friday mornings – three hours is a lot for just listening to lectures so we vary the activities – I present new material and do some problems, then ask them to work in groups on a  problem.  They really do this well – they are very good at working collectively and really stick to the task at hand and also explain the material to any in the group who do not understand.  Here's one group: 

And another

They also enjoy presenting the completed problem to the class. 

My taking a camera to class was a big event, so many wanted pictures of me with them.  I have really enjoyed teaching these students and will be sad to leave.

More people

More people in the guesthouse – it has been very busy.  There’s another Ron from Newton, MA here for two weeks to teach medical informatics in the E-Health program.

Birthday Celebration

February 26 was Toma’s birthday and many people helped him celebrate at dinner at a restaurant in Nyamirambo called  Ten to Two.  Nyamirambo is the section of Kigali next to KIST.  The restaurant is mainly a fish restaurant – they serve grilled tilapia which is really the best food we have had in Rwanda.  They serve a whole fish – we had one for each two people although that was more than we could eat.   There are no utensils – there are places to wash your hands before and after eating and you eat the fish with your hands.  They also have potatoes and beer – who could ask for anything more.  The restaurant is high on one of the hills of Kigali so we got a wonderful view of the city – a night view, I’d like to return during the daytime to get a day view.  There were about 30 people in our group, mostly from the school of architecture or friends of friends of members of architecture.  It was a very good celebration.

Jazz in Kigali

It’s been a long time between postings – and that’s an indication of how busy I’ve been.  We had to turn in final exams at the beginning of March to be sent to an external examiner to be approved.  Each course needed two final exams, the regular exam and a supplementary exam.  Students who fail get a second chance at the final.  Since the final must count 60% of the grade, and 40% is a passing grade, this is a real second chance.  In addition to the final, we had to turn in complete solutions including how many points are to be awarded for each step of the solution.  This was intensely time-consuming, although now that it is all done, I not only do not have to create the final exams, I totally know what I will be teaching for the rest of the term.  So that’s a plus. 

On  February 21 we went to a jazz concert given by the group “Men on Hills”  (Rwanda is the land of 1000 hills).  A man in the KIST School of Architecture, Christian, plays bass in the group.  The concert (well, Christian referred to it as a public rehearsal, but it sounded like a concert to me) was at 2 in the afternoon at a small recreation club - it has volley ball, a pool, a restaurant and bar.  We had gorgeous weather for this.  The group is very international:  Christian is from Germany, I think the guitar player, Toma, is from Congo, the drummer is from the US.  They played lots of great stuff including "All of me", “Sitting on the dock of the bay”, “Summertime”, “The girl from Ipanema”, almost everything was familiar.   The lead singer was fantastic.  Here are some pictures.  Christian is also in another group, and I hope we’ll hear them next week.

Christian

Toma

                                            The lead singer Djedje and Eckert on Saxophone.

                                                                       Men on Hills 

From L to R:  Christian on bass, Toma on guitar, Eric on drums, Djedje - vocalist, Michel on guitar, Eckert on sax and guest vocalist Rebecca on the right

I’ll continue this update, but I need to go grade some exams now.  Tests other than the final exam are called CATs – continuous assessment tests.  In one class I am not giving a midterm exam but just lots of small continuous assessments (weekly quizzes, homework).  They asked if we would be having a CAT – I told them no, just Kittens.  Then I had to spend 10 minutes explaining that.  But they liked it.