Following the Equator

10 things Americans should know about the world

We Americans come from a big, powerful and influential country, to say the least. As if being a big (No. 3 in population) and wealthy (No. 1 economy) weren't enough, we've also managed to have a disproportionately large world influence culturally. It’s like Goliath becoming the planet’s most popular TV-show host.

It's long been too easy for us Americans to be content to gaze a bit too admiringly at our own navels when it comes to our world view; this dulls our appreciation of how much of our everyday lives is provided to us by other countries that are often half a world away.

As part of the 2009 Geography Awareness Week Blog-a-thon, hosted by National Geographic's My Wonderful World Campaign, this blog post required us to boil down, to a list of just 10, the things that Americans should know about their world. It seems to us that the best use of these 10 is to help close the gaps we may have in fully appreciating our daily interdependence with the wider world.

Here we go:

links for 2009-11-11

• The wall shattered | Voice of America
  The portion of the wall which is located in Boston, was originally located near Bernauer Strasse, on the western side of the then-divided city of Berlin.
  (tags: BerlinWall ef-education-first history Germany Berlin Boston)
• El muro hecho pedazos
  La porción del muro que se encuentra en Boston, estaba localizada inicialmente cerca de Bernauer Strasse, en el lado occidental de la entonces dividida ciudad de Berlí
  (tags: BerlinWall ef-education-first history Germany Berlin Boston Spanish)

$200 discount on 2011 tours with EF

It's not too early to begin planning a 2011 educational tour, and EF is giving student travelers a huge reason to get started now.

We don't normally post promotional offers on this blog, but this one is just too big to pass up:

All participants who enroll on a 2011 tour with EF Educational Tours by December 15, 2009, will receive a $200 discount on their tour's Program Fee.^*

That's right: $200 off! Just for signing up now for your 2011 tour.

Here's how to start taking advantage of EF's biggest discount ever:

• If you're a teacher, you can call an EF Tour Consultant at 1-800-637-8222, or you can start planning online.
• If you're a student, find out if there's a teacher at your school who travels with EF, or you can start a tour at your school.

For more information about EF Educational Tours, visit eftours.com or call 1-800-637-8222. Or post your questions or comments below.

* Terms and conditions apply.

links for 2009-11-03

• Adventures of Osage teen captured in ‘Life on Tour’
  Brooke Bodensteiner spent 10 days over the summer sunbathing on Barcelona's beaches, savoring authentic tapas and losing herself on Seville's winding, maze-like streets.
  (tags: EF-tours LifeOnTour video educational-travel educational-tours student-travel Spain EricBeato Iowa highschool)

links for 2009-10-30

• EF Tours Reality Travel Show in Season Two
  Want to see what it's really like to be on an EF Tours European trip, live and practically in person?
  (tags: EF-tours educational-travel educational-tours student-travel LifeOnTour Spain video)
• A Tour to Remember
  (tags: EF-tours educational-travel educational-tours student-travel Hungary Poland CzechRepublic Germany highschool SouthCarolina)
• Students Travel through Europe with EF Tours
  (tags: EF-tours video)
• ef tour photos - Raffi Aashil
  (tags: EF-tours photos CostaRica France Paris EiffelTower)

So that's what Clint Eastwood sounds like

The first movie my wife ever saw in the original English version was The Bridges of Madison County. She was quite taken with the experience of hearing Clint Eastwood's real voice for the first time; until that point, she'd only heard Clint dubbed into Spanish, by a Spanish actor who probably also dubbed Arnold Schwarzenegger and Tom Hanks.  

More movies would bring her more revelations: Jack Nicholson's real voice, Robert De Niro's real voice, and the real voices of a host of other Americans, right on down to Steve Urkel (American TV shows were dubbed into Spanish, too). For her, there was no comparing the English voice to the Spanish dubbing: The real English was far superior and far more satisfying. 

links for 2009-10-26

• Teacher and traveler has shown students the world
  Bonnie Bishop — who has accompanied students on more than 40 EF tours — retired from teaching Spanish in June, but she’s not quite ready to hang up her traveling hat.
  (tags: EF-tours educational-travel educational-tours student-travel travel Massachusetts highschool GoAheadTours)
• Adams, Jefferson hit the road in England
  Retracing the patriots' 1786 tour of England. The itinerary they devised offers as fine an introduction to England as any offered by modern tour companies.
  (tags: England travel history Jefferson Adams)
• London's Tube will have (some) air conditioning next summer
  (tags: travel London England subway)
• International Halloween Parties
  (tags: Halloween travel Thailand Ireland holidays)

links for 2009-10-21

• Splitting the Earth
  Yesterday was the 125th anniversary of the day the world decided to officially designate Greenwich, England, as longitude 0° 0' 00" (the line known as the Greenwich Prime Meridian).
  (tags: England longitude imaginary-lines)
• Top ten things not to forget on a trip
  (tags: travel tips packing)
• Road trip: By way of Ireland, Scotland, Wales and London
  (tags: EF-tours educational-travel educational-tours student-travel UnitedKingdom Ireland Scotland Wales England London Kansas announcement 2010)

Fundraising suggestions on Facebook

We have a lot of fundraising suggestions at eftours.com/fundraising, including tips on getting started, sponsorships and grants, community and school events, product sales, ideas for individuals and guides, webinars and other resources.

There's also an ongoing fundraising discussion on EF Tours' Facebook fan page. Join the more than 13,000 other fans, and click on the Discussions tab to participate.