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IC NEWSLETTER -
WINTER 2009
12
IC and Norwegian students got
together in November to produce
three short sketches on stage. They
were given 24 hours to come out
with a scene using only a chair and
Norwegian music.
“That’s the only stimulus we gave
them,” said Riad Chirazi, head of the
Drama Department “and divided
them into three groups. It was up to
them to come out with the idea.”
ThetwelveNorwegianstudentsarrived
from Mjolan school in the northern
Norwegian district of Mo-i-rana and
were accompanied by a delegation
from their school including the head
of the school, dean of students, an
audiovisual teacher and two drama
teachers. Six IC students headed by
Chirazi, welcomed them.
Their five-day stay was filled with
workshops, tourism and cultural
exchange tidbits. “I had the teachers
over to my house for dinner while our
students took the Norwegians out to
see Beirut’s nightlife,”laughed Chirazi.
“They got along really well.”
A day before their departure, the
students put on their sketches. As an
extra twist, Norwegians spoke Arabic
and IC students spoke Norwegian.
Without a hitch and to a student
and teacher audience, the sketches
were performed. “It was great as we
learned different aspects of acting,”
said Reem Jaber, 17. “Everyone had
an input into the final performance.”
The first exchange between the
Mjolan school and IC began four
years agowhen a groupof Norwegian
students came to IC and participated
ina theatreworkshop.“Itwas a theatre
and cultural exchange,” said Chirazi.
“They contacted us to establish a link.
They came to see if this exchange
would work out.”
It apparently did work out and quite
well as the Norwegians returned to
their country and began fundraising
efforts to invite their new Lebanese
friends to the Mjolan School.
Unfortunately,
Lebanon’s
unrests
prevented IC students from travelling.
Finally, after three years of failed
attempts, the students were able to go
toNorway to attend theatreworkshops
and put on a joint performance with
their Norwegian counterparts.
This year it was Norway’s turn to
come. Again with the collaboration
of a Norwegian NGO, NORAD,
(NorwegianAgencyForDevelopment
Cooperation), the students were able
to sponsor their trip to Beirut.
The relationship between the two
schools has been sealed and the
exchange program will continue. “We’re
definitely going to Norway next year,”
said a proud Chirazi. “The students
benefited fromeachothers experiences.
We complement each other.”
As for the students, they had become
friends. “At the beginning, it was
hard to communicate ideas with
each other because of the language
barrier,” said Jaber. “But towards the
end, we had become friends and we
found physical ways to talk and to
communicate. It was fun finding out
how they do things in Norway. You
know they don’t have school bells
and they think our cafeteria food is
better than theirs!”
Months later, the friendship between
the students remains strong. Jaber
andother IBstudentswill be travelling
to Norway to visit their new friends in
early summer.
Norwegia n students come to IC