GERMANY IN LEBANON…
LGU has always been actively involved in upholding German culture and traditions. As students are at the heart of its interests, it always organizes activities to get them involved in events that widen their knowledge and scopes. Among its various activities to endorse the German way of life and introduce students to the country’s background and its evolutionary process, LGU launched during its spring semester an elective course entitled “German Culture” in which 45 students from all faculties registered in order to know more about German civilization and traditions in an interactive and entertaining manner.
As the course ended, a German Culture Day was organized on May 23, during which each of the nine groups of students actively prepared a stand around the following themes: History and Geography, Tourism and Sightseeing, Philosophy/ literature and painting, Sports, Culinary traditions, Science and Technology, Cinema and Music, and Traditional festivals. Delegates from each group gave a detailed presentation of their work in front of a jury composed of Mr. Mani Pournaghi, Director of Goethe Institute in Lebanon, Mrs. Bahar Sayyas, Director of DAAD in Lebanon, Mr. Elias Assouad, President of the Lebanese German Business Council – LGBC, Member of LGU Board of Trustees, and owner and chairman of Assouad group, as well as Dr. Monique Baumgarten Adaimi, pediatrician, Vice Director of Deutsche Schule, and Medical Director of Notre Dame University Hospital.
Following the presentations, the jury members took a tour of the well-designed and colorful stands in view of evaluating the students’ work. They praised the students for their creativity and, while touring, tasted authentic German food and beverages prepared by the students themselves. The jury members also challenged the students with questions and took part in cooperative games especially prepared for the occasion. Particularly attractive were the stands that offered German beer and hot wine, kartoffelsalat, würste, Apfelstudel, pretzels, and Christmas ginger cookies. This jury’s evaluation was important considering its weight on the overall grading of the groups. Another part of the grade was calculated according to guests’ votes for their favorite stand. At the end, following assessment of the overall grades, the third prize was given to the Tourism and Sightseeing group, the second prize went to the Sports Teams, and the winning group was Culinary Traditions.
The event was entertaining and demonstrated students’ skills at research, presentation, and teamwork. In addition, it gave LGU students and participants the chance to explore all aspects of life in Germany.