Cultural, Social Events, and Volunteer Opportunities

Date	Time	Location
Sat, May 18	9:15am-Noon	Downtown Ann Arbor, MI

Cost: Free but registration is required. Register by Friday May 10.

Meeting location and time: The group will meet outside the International Center (603 E. Madison St.) at 9:15 AM to walk over to Liberty Plaza (between East Liberty and South Division).

Description: Ann Arbor Downtown Blooms Day is a great volunteering opportunity where you can help beautify the city and connect with other international students/scholars/families in a meaningful way. We will plant flowers, mulch planters, and help spruce up the downtown areas along State, Main, South University, and Liberty Streets.Supplies will be provided for planting flowers throughout downtown, although you can bring your gardening gloves and trowel if you have one. Please dress for the weather.

Open to all international students, scholars and families. Volunteers will receive either a free T-shirt or a cap and a free pizza lunch after the activities. 

Questions? Contact Jessica Greenfield at jrenae@umich.edu  

Date	Time	Location	Room
Tue, May 21	2-3:30pm	International Center	Conference Room

Learning and understanding the common phrases or sayings called proverbs can be a way to gain a deeper understanding of the values of a particular country or culture. Learning some common proverbs will also make it easier to follow conversations in which people use or refer to proverbs. This interactive workshop will introduce you to a few proverbs common in U.S. culture, as well as give you a chance to share some proverbs from your own culture.

Open to all international students, scholars, spouses, and partners.

Questions? Contact Erin Wehrenberg at erinwehr@umich.edu

Date	Time	Location	Room
Wed, May 22	5:30-7pm	International Center	Conference Room

Instructor: Pamela Bogart

Admission: first-come-first-serve (capacity: 40). Open to international students only.

Do you want to "wow" your audience? Do you find it challenging to make your voice loud enough to hear when a sea of faces are all staring at you? Does your throat hurt after trying to speak loudly for a few minutes? If so, this workshop is for you. We will work on breathing techniques, on amplifying the voice by using the body like a musical instrument, on dynamic intonation, on psychological and cultural components of being loud, and on how imagination and creativity can help us to access our strongest voice for public speaking. You'll leave the workshop with exercises to practice at home and greater confidence about your capacity to capture and maintain audience attention.

Cosponsored by the International Center and the English Language Institute.  

Date	Time	Location
Sat, May 25	7:00am-Midnight	Chicago, IL

Cost: $45 for round trip transportation. NO REFUNDS. You will need to bring money for local transportation, food, shopping, museums, etc. Please note: This is not a guided tour by the International Center. You will be responsible for your own plans for the entire day upon arrival in Chicago. Students, scholars, friends, and families are welcome. Same price for all, regardless of age. Children must be accompanied by an adult. 

Registration: In order to reserve your spot for this trip, you must pay in advance at the Michigan Union Ticket Office (MUTO) located on the ground floor of the Michigan Union. Ask for the International Center Chicago trip. Cash or credit cards accepted. A UMID must be presented by the person purchasing the tickets. Limited space is available.

Meeting location and time: Participants may choose to board the bus from either Central Campus or North Campus at one of the locations designated below. Upon our return, participants may choose to be dropped off at Central or North Campus locations.

Pick-up Locations	Meeting Time
Central Campus: outside the International Center (603 East Madison Street)	7:00am
North Campus: outside the Pierpont Commons at the circle drive facing Murfin Avenue	7:20am

* Please Note: The bus will depart the North Campus location at 7:30am for Chicago.

Note: Estimated arrival time in Chicago will be 11:30AM local time (Chicago is on Central Time and is one hour behind Ann Arbor/Eastern time). Attendees will return to the bus in Chicago at 7PM local time (8PM Ann Arbor time) and will arrive back in Ann Arbor at approximately midnight.

Description: Join the International Center in a day trip to Chicago. You decide how to explore Chicago for the day. The drop-off and pickup location in Chicago will be Millennium Park, so you can plan your route from there. There are museums, shopping, excellent dinning, and famous sites for all interests and all ages. Check out the links below to look at just a few of the many options for your day in Chicago.

• Map of downtown Chicago: http://www.planetware.com/map/chicago-downtown-map-us-ilchgo_n.htm
• General Tourist information: http://www.choosechicago.com/Pages/default.aspx
• Hop On Hop Off Tour covers miles of city attractions and offers you the opportunity to jump off the bus for a close-up look when you like and jump back on when you’re ready to roll: http://www.coachusa.com/chicagotrolley/
• Museums (Art Institute of Chicago, Children’s Museum, Field Museum, Museum of Science and Industry, Shedd Aquarium etc.): http://www.choosechicago.com/museums/
• Navy Pier: http://www.navypier.com/things2do/things_home.html
• Skydeck Chicago: http://www.the-skydeck.com/
• Shopping on Michigan Avenue’s Magnificent Mile: http://www.themagnificentmile.com/
• Transportation while in Chicago: http://www.chicagotraveler.com/chicago_transportation.htm

Questions:  contact Jessica Greenfield at jrenae@umich.edu

Ann Arbor Restaurant Week comes to town twice a year (January and June). It is a local celebration of dining in the community. Restaurant Week is your opportunity to try as many great Ann Arbor restaurants as your schedule allows for one incredibly low fixed price. Come join other international students and scholars for a delicious and fun meal. Details will be announced in the future.

 

Date	Time	Location	Room
Thur, Jun 13	4-5:30pm	International Center	Conference Room

Instructor: Judy Dyer and Tarey Reilly

Admission: first-come-first-serve (capacity: 40). Open to international students only.

This workshop is specifically designed for you if you speak a variety of Chinese as your first language. The workshop will help you diagnose problem areas, and provide tips, exercises, and some useful web resources for improving your pronunciation on your own. Please bring a small mirror and a list of 10 words you use frequently but feel are difficult for you to pronounce.

Cosponsored by the International Center and the English Language Institute.  

Date	Time	Location
Sat, Jun 15	to be determined	Sandusky, OH

Cedar Point is the second-oldest operating amusement park in the United States. It is a great opportunity to see some of the greatest amusement parks in the world and get the thrill of riding some amazing roller coasters. For more information on Cedar Point, please visit their website.

More details will be announced in the future.

 

Date	Time	Location	Room
Fri, Jul 12	3-5pm	North Quad	Language Resource Center (Mac Classroom)

Instructor: Brenda Imber

Registration opens on June 12th (capacity: 24). Open to international students only.

If you're interested in expanding your vocabulary and increasing your ability to pronounce new words or phrases, join us in this free workshop.  We will work with a few resources such as a phone app that contains an inventory of verbal stratagems used in daily-life, academic and professional communication. At the end of this session of some heavy lifting, you should have increased your degree of muscle-memory for more accurate usage and production.

Cosponsored by the International Center and the English Language Institute.  

Volunteers will prepare and serve food at the Delonis Homeless Shelter. This is an opportunity to see a different aspect of American life than what you are exposed to at U-M.

These will take place on the 2nd Thursday of every month all term. There will be two shifts and four or five people are needed for each shift. Shift One is from 2:30 to about 6:00 p.m., and Shift Two is from 4:30 to around 8:00 p.m. Shift One participants will prepare food and Shift Two participants will serve food. Volunteers will meet at the Ecumenical Center and International Residence on Church Street and drive downtown to the Delonis Shelter. Afterwards, we will come back to ECIR for dinner and discussion.

Service Dates: May 9, June 13, July 11, August 8, September 12, October 10, November 14, and December 12.

Registration Deadline: Six business days prior to each service date. If you would like to participate, please contact ECIR's Volunteer Coordinators at delonis.ecir@gmail.com. In your email, please include:

* Your name

* Shift preference (first or second)

* Your phone number

* Whether you have a car and could help with transportation, including the number of passengers you can accommodate.

This opportunity is co-sponsored by the U-M International Center and the Ecumenical Center and International Residence.

For a map to ECIR, please see http://www.ecir.org/about/location.php

See Shelter Association of Washtenaw County for more information about the Delonis Homeless Shelter.

This series is designed to meet the needs of international scholars at U-M. Each session features a different topic and you can attend as many of the sessions as you want. The group will practice conversational English and discuss U.S. customs related to informal social interactions in a university setting. Open to international scholars only.

Session dates and topic:

• Thursday, April 25: Introduction and “Small Talk”
• Thursday, May 23: Managing Work Relationships
• Thursday, June 20: to be announced
• Thursday, July 18: to be announced

Time and location: 3:30 PM – 5:00 PM, International Center Conference room

Questions? Contact the International Center at icenter@umich.edu

“Things to do in Ann Arbor” will introduce new international students, scholars and families to leisure, cultural and educational activities at U-M and Ann Arbor. You will have the chance to ask any questions you may have, learn about programs organized by the International Center, meet staff and summer orientation peer advisers, and connect with other new students, scholars and their families.

Session dates: Fridays of May 10, May 24, June 14, June 28, July 12 and July 26.

Time and location: 3:00 PM – 4:00 PM, International Center Conference room

Presentation

Questions? Contact the International Center at icenter@umich.edu