Up with People Cast A 2012 On Tour

Melody (Zizhu) Xie – Beijing, China
Cast A ’12

Thanks to globalization, Chinese people nowadays are pretty open-minded, I even learned how to speak English by watching the TV show, Friends!  But there is still one part of our culture where we could never give up nationalism — Chinese food. During the past three months we have traveled to twelve cities in US and Europe and I went to one Chinese restaurant in each city.

I’m gonna introduce a very common but special dish – Coca Cola chicken wings! It may sound weird but it was always always the super star wherever I cooked! My host family in Denmark even finished fifteen wings in fifteen minutes, which I treat as a big compliment!

Coca Cola Chicken Wings

Ingredients:
8 chicken wings
1 tin of Coca Cola
1/10 tin of soy sauce
4 garlic cloves

Preparation:
1. Cut wings and garlic cloves.
In order to let the flavor in, cut 3 random incisions on each side of the wings. In order to let the flavor out, cut garlic cloves into random small slices.

2. Heat the pan and oil.
Put a frying pan on the stove. Use max fire to heat the pan until it is too hot to touch (you can put your hand 5-10 cm above the pan to feel the temperature). Then pour 4-6 tea spoons of cooking oil. Wait for 30 seconds.
(Tips: DON’T have water on the pan or cooking shovel, or the hot oil would begin to jump everywhere!)

3. Fry the sliced garlic and chicken wings.
Turn the fire into 80% of the max. Put sliced garlic inside. Stir fry for 1 minute to let the flavor of garlic come out. Then put chicken wings inside. Stir fry until they are well cooked and turn golden.

4. Stew chicken wings with Coca Cola and soy sauce.
Put 8 golden chicken wings, 1 tin of Coca Cola and 1/10 tin of soy sauce into a small pot. Use max fire until it boils. Then turn the fire into 40% of the max and stew for 20 minutes.

Coca Cola chicken wings get sweet flavor from Coca Cola, salty flavor and sunbath color from soy sauce, and also nice flavor from garlic. This dish doesn’t need real salt or sugar and garlic is very good for immune system. Enjoy your first REAL Chinese dish!

Fady Sarkees, Iraq/USA
Cast A 2012

Being in Up with People means having a lot of opportunities. I never imagined that I would have the chance to visit the Foreign Affairs Office in Sweden. My name is Fady and I am a refugee from Iraq and live in the United States. Sweden is a special country for me because of the huge number of refugees and immigrants that it hosts, especially from Iraq. Sweden is considered the European country that hosts the largest number of refugees. While we were in Stockhom, I had the chance to visit the Swedish Foreign Affairs Office with a group of Up with People’s students. There we had a brief introduction about Sweden, immigrations, how to be a diplomat, what it means to be a diplomat, and the different experiences that you may have if you work as a diplomat. We also discussed the current situation of refugees and immigrants, and what the government is trying to do in order to integrate them into the Swedish community. We also spoke briefly about the United Nations and its different branches. The millennium goals of the United Nations and the role of the United Nations in the world were topics I really enjoyed.

After this amazing experience, we joined the rest of the cast in a group discussion with other international students going to school in Sweden about integration. It was a really thoughtful conversation where we heard a lot of success stories of immigrants and refugees in Sweden. We were able to hear different points of view from Swedish citizens and immigrants about integration and different ways of establishing bridges between the different people of the Swedish community.

I am thankful to Up with People for giving me this opportunity to expand my vision and knowledge about hot topics like immigration, and give me the opportunity to visit the Foreign Affairs office in Sweden. Our next stop will be Mexico, where the tradition, culture, history and arts mix together to form a unique story and I can’t wait to dive into this experience.

Ellen Enebo, USA
UWP Curriculum Manager

Cast A had an incredible week in Eskilstuna, Sweden. Eskilstuna is about an hour west of Stockholm. It is a community with a lot of industry, and is home to many recent immigrants to Sweden. The issue that our sponsor, Sparbanken Rekarne, brought us in to talk with youth about was being inclusive between cultures. We were there to recognize some of the divide and tension currently existing in the city, and to talk about it with youth openly and honestly.

Cast A prepared for over a month to lead six 3-hour seminars for Gymnasium (high school) students in Eskilstuna (ages 17-19). For many cast members, it was their first time leading activities in schools. Our education manager, Shelsea, talked of our “three day growth spurt” and it really was true—cast members facilitated sincere and complex conversations with classroom students, while also having a good time and learning from each other to be thoughtful facilitators.

The classrooms were so diverse—each seminar was led by six UWP students, from at least 4-5 countries, and many classrooms had another 5-10 country or culture groups in the room. Immigrants in Eskilstuna are from Afganistan, Iraq, Syria, Somalia, Eritrea, Korea, Egypt, and others. The Swedish students were at first hesitant to talk in English, but warmed up to the cast and had some really great reflections.

We opened each day with a 30-minute mini-show, and closed each seminar with a conversation… “What do I know now that I didn’t know before? What am I more aware of?”

Here are a few of the statements that students in Eskilstuna wrote:

Now I Know Statements
“Now I know that the minority and majority often want to interact with each other but believe the other group doesn’t.”
“Now I know that the world is unfair and we have to work with it more and do something about it.”
“Now I know that we all need to communicate together no matter what we are from to make a better world.”
“Now I know that Up with People is something awesome.”
“Now I know how I can invite people to the majority.”
“Now I know that I have more opportunities than others.”
“Now I know that any person can be judgmental and closed minded without really realizing.”
“Now I know that there is more than one way to interact with other cultures.”
“Now I know that I can be both the problem and the solution.”

Ashley Wright, USA
Cast A 2012

Who knew we could pack so much into one week? We’ve had the opportunity to facilitate a series of workshops with students in several schools in Eskilstuna, Sweden. The workshops centered on the subject of integration of minority and majority cultures. Just like our cast, Sweden is a melting pot of people from all over the world and integration is a hot topic here in Eskilstuna. It was so interesting to work with the students and hear what they had to say. The coolest thing was that many cast members had the opportunity to facilitate these workshops. Everyone was able to prepare, practice, and perfect his or her facilitation techniques so everyone ended up doing a fantastic job. The language barrier between our cast members and the students was an obstacle, but we were prepared and ended up being very successful.

As a part of these workshops, the cast performed a mini-show for all the students to start off each morning. I was lucky enough to be part of the group that we so passionately call the “Super Crew.” The Super Crew was responsible for the set up and strike of all of these shows. We set up one day, performed the next morning, took down the set, moved to the next facility, then started all over again…three times! We’re all starting to understand a little bit of what it was like in the “old days” of Up with People when the cast would set up, perform, and strike multiple times a week. Describing what Up with People is all about is often a little bit difficult, but I think when people see the show, our message is made very clear. It really helped the success of the workshops to begin the day with the show. The Super Crew has become a well-oiled machine after so many set up and strikes in only three days!

Overall, it’s been a successful week here in Eskilstuna, Sweden. Some of us strengthened our facilitation skills in the classrooms and some of us strengthened our biceps during set up and strike. While everyone is pretty exhausted after such a busy few days, we have all had a great time. We’re hoping for some sunshine on our ferry to Finland so we can catch some rays before we start up again. Next stop: Seinäjoki, Finland!

Rico Thompson, Bahamas
Cast A ’12

The Bahamas was founded when Columbus landed on San Salvador Island in 1492. Most of our cultural traditions and history, however, stemmed from years much earlier. The original inhabitants of our islands were part of a tribe called the Arawaks or Lucayan Indians. They cultivated and passed on the stories and culture of our islands. One tradition that stuck was the preparation of food. The Arawaks had something called “pepperpot” which was similar to a barbecue pit where they prepared pork, fish, and vegetables. They also prepared souses or soups only using vegetables and poultry found on the island. This tradition still exists today.

Chicken Souse

Ingredients:
5 lbs portion chicken wings
1 onion
8 lemons/limes (your desired amount of each)
1/4 cup lemon Juice
all-spice (your desired amount)
1 carrot
1 stick of celery
salt and pepper to taste
2 Irish potatoes (if desired)

Preparation:
Clean portion wings in vinegar and warm water. Place wings into pot containing and 8-10 cups of water. This will ensure that all remaining oils and other particles are removed. Let wings boil for about 5-8 minutes. Remove from pot and place into a bowl containing cool water, rinse well with water and lemon juice. Place wings into pot with about 8-10 cups of water or until wings are completely covered. Slice onions, celery, carrots, and potatoes. Add onions, celery, lime, pepper, lemon juice and all-spice seeds. Boil for about 45 minutes. Add potatoes and carrots. Boil for another 15-20 minutes. Serve with homemade bread.

Name: Humberto Hernández Rubio
Age: 22
Country: Mexico
PR Staff

What were you doing before Up with People?
Studying Administration for the hotel/gastronomy/tourism area then I traveled my first semester in UWP and when I came back I studied Communication and Business for 3 years, then decided to work as a PR for 1 year

Favorite food tried in Up with People:
Of course Filipino Adobo

Memorable host-family experience?
I have always had a good experience and all of them are great and different, but I will say in Farmington, New Mexico. I stayed with a host family that really made me feel at home and my host dad took us to Zumba classes. The classes were intense and I exercised parts of my body that I didn’t even know before and the next day I was barely able to walk so people asked me if I was trying to walk as a cowboy all the day

Career goal:
I will say to start an event organizing company that will arrange events for poor people so they can enjoy the same fantastic live experiences others get to. My idea is not so strong yet but that’s what I’d like to do.

Everything Else:
I am a really relaxed person or at least I try to make people to see that I am not worried. In my opinion stress is the worst enemy and when we want to reach our goal we need to be calm because with stress you don’t fix a problem. The most important thing I would like to share with everyone else will be, “its not important to get to your goal, the important thing is to walk the road, fall, raise yourself, be persistent and learn.”

Favorite Quote:
“No Matter how much you want to leave you could come back” Goldfish (Its a Band)