FAIRTRADE FORTNIGHT

BISC is taking a front line in promoting Fair-trade! The event commenced on 25th February for two weeks and ends on 9th March. In conjunction with the Fairtrade Fortnight, we held a talk / presentation on Wednesday 27th February over soup lunch. The talk highlighted the importance of fair-trading and the impact it brings top the life of the people being affected – the children, the artisan and the community at large: with a focus on India. Matthew Kent, who is a manager of Fair trade crafts chain – Shared Earth, shared through visual presentation on his experience in India, giving a first hand account of the positive influences of fair-trade to the community. The session ended with a quiz on Fairtrade with prizes sponsored by Shared Earth.

This Wednesday 5th March BISC will be holding a Fairtrade Fortnight dinner, serving authentic Indian cuisine, followed by a chocolate game! This is organised in a joint effort with William Blatherwick, a representative of Christian Aid and will look at how we act responsibly to those who grow and produce our food.

We also have opportunity to support Fairtrade – with two sections of items on display, one food section and the other jewellery and crafts with interesting items for sale throughout the two weeks.

Cotswolds Trip (March 08)

A very popular BISC event – and we certainly know why...a trip to the beautiful English countryside! The journey was less than 2 hours away from Bristol. We visited 3 places for the day, starting with Chedworth Roman Villa on our first stop. Arriving just before 11.00am, we explored the place with some people who opted for the visual presentation while the others wandered off on the audio tour assisted by a handy device.

In Bourton-on-water, our second stop, we had time for lunch and to explore the beautiful village. Taking advantage of the lovely weather on the day, some of us lunched by the riverside. Photo taking kept everyone busy with cameras flashing throughout the afternoon.

We proceeded on to our last stop of the day to the quaint village of Broadway. Upon arriving, we were served traditional English cream tea with home made scones accompanied by fresh coffee/tea. The rest of the afternoon was spent exploring the beautiful yellow (Cotswolds) stone with more flashes for the album! At about 5.30pm, we headed back to Bristol. A truly wonderful day out was had by all.

BISC is organising a trip to Oxford on 15th March, while there are still spaces left – hurry, book online or pop into BISC office!!

Globe Cafe Unplugged

The highly anticipated Globe Café Unplugged kicked off with Bristol’s very own rock band Transition. The trio captivated the audience with fresh songs from their brand new album, as well as some of the old classics. Transition did not fail to satisfy with a standing ovation and cries for “more” from the crowd. Always a tough act to follow, the BISC team stood up to the challenge with their renditions of “Lean on Me” and the delightful “Sounds of Freedom” by Jewel. The team, led by Rebecca Bruce, exceeded even their own expectations when every chord was reached, with the onlookers singing along (hoping to drown out the noise most probably). The first session was wonderfully wrapped up with Lilian’s elaborate dancing skills. Without putting a step wrong, Lilian took to the stage like a born natural, much to the crowd’s delight.

Always providing a good service, Globe Café supplied an array of delicious snacks which was consumed within minutes of laying the table. It was a much needed break in preparation for Djoaine Asis’ solo performance. With her dazzling pink wig and her pet mascot as an encouragement, Djoaine sang two meaningful songs on the keyboard. The audience was amazed at Djoaine’s slight “tongue in cheek” performance which could possibly have been the performance of the night! To keep the night alive Emmanuel Mathe offered his expertise by drumming a rather uplifting beat. So good was his performance that his new found fans demanded more! The only way to end such a phenomenal night was to recall Transition to the front stage. Their new song, “the sky”, was so well received that they had to replay it a second time.

Overall, the night was a huge success. A late entry from our very own Kylie & Jason and (Becky & Kevin) and their version of “Especially for You”, entertained students as they departed. The quick departure may have been caused by a further mournful performance by Kevin. Unfortunately the hills were not so alive with the sound of music, dampening future hopes of a job at the west end! The BISC team would like to thank all those who attended and took part in Globe Café Unplugged, especially those who prepared the event at Ebenezer Church.

Written by Carys Davis

Japanese Evening

JAPANESE EVENING - FRIDAY, 15th FEBRUARY

Another popular BISC event!! Back again by popular demand, tickets were sold out well in advance. About 40 students came to another interesting cultural evening.

On arrival, besides the socialising, a range of origami kept us entertained. The menu for the evening included an amazing dish of ramen, carefully prepared and served with Japanese fried chicken bites. We also had opportunity to roll sushi in the kitchen followed by sweet rice balls dessert.

The evening included a presentation and a briefing / talk on Japanese culture and some film clips - which we all enjoyed, especially the Japanese tap dancing that mixed old and new traditions.

A big thank you to the University Japanese Society for another successful and entertaining evening! If you would like to find out more information about the Japanese Society, you may log on to http://www.bris.ac.uk/depts/union/JapSoc/

Coming up….BISC will be hosting Fairtrade Fortnight (25th Feb to 9th Mar). There will be a lunch time talk session on Wednesday, 27th March at 1.00pm by Matthew Kent from ‘Shared Earth’ giving us an insight and a first hand experience on Fair Trading. For further details, please log on to our website - www.bisc.org.uk or pop in to BISC!

Let’s Talk About Love and International Feast

“ You don’t have to wait until Valentines Day to give flowers to your girlfriend who you really love…”

Romance, marriage, money, taxes, who pays? matriarchal societies, patriarchal societies, a marriage proposal after ten days, what’s your definition of love?

The termly international feast took place on Wednesday with world class cookery available to share. There was a delicious and appetising array of different tastes and flavours from around the world: Polish “Bigos,” Indonesian Chinese omelette, delicious home made French quiche Lorraine, Pakistani curried potatoes served with Naan bread and yoghurt, English toad in the hole and Japanese sushi. From chocolate mousse to crepes and bread and butter pudding, all pointed to the universal language of good food, washed down with an interesting diet of discussion and conversation.

Ruth Johnson, a local author led an informal and interesting discussion on the meaning of romantic love. The discussion touched on a variety of different themes and topics from marriage to romance with a valuable contribution from students from varied cultural backgrounds. Many held different opinions about who is expected to pay in a relationship? A student from a very patriarchal Indian society in Mauritius felt that it was important for a woman to be able to pay to demonstrate her independence, whilst in Indonesia in certain matriarchal societies there is an expectation that women will pay. For the Chinese students represented however, there was a more traditional expectation that the man alone should pay.
We discussed marriage and arranged marriages, and even the tax benefits of being married.
In Taiwan there are churches which teach couples to hug and to express their feelings towards each other and there was an assertion that English people are reserved in their affections. Another student pointed out the fact sometimes British people use the word “love” too lightly to describe our feelings towards cars and other objects as well as towards people. Ruth shared her own personal experiences of love and how this related to her Christian beliefs, however there was a very open spirit of listening and sharing with a great deal of respect when opinions differed. The debate continues…

Would you like to win a cream tea? … Tell us in approximately 50 words or less your own definition of love and you could win a free cream tea at BISC…. (closing date 22nd Feb 2008)

Windsor Castle - February 2008

On Saturday the 9th of February, Hannah, Kevin and Elvyn shepherded 102 international students across to Windsor Castle. Being larger than the average group, is was difficult to track everyone and there was a nervous moment when handing out the tickets wherein we were worried some random people might have infiltrated our group and helped themselves to a ticket, but God was watching over us and all was fine. After the ticket distribution, security check, and free audio guide pickup, the mass of students dissolved into the castle leaving a small group of us who waited around for the guided tour of the grounds which was very interesting and entertaining. We quickly discovered that sadly, the Queen was not in residence that day, as indicated by the Union Jack flying above Round Tower (which isn’t actually round!). Inside we gazed in amazement at Queen Mary’s Dolls’ House with fully functioning electricity and plumbing, we absorbed the history of the Royal Weddings exhibition and we marveled at the grandeur of the State Apartments. Although the Queen wasn’t in herself, many of England’s previous monarchs were lying around in St. George’s Chapel, though I suspect they couldn’t appreciate the magnificent Gothic architecture.
A great day out was had by all!

Special Event - Transition Live!!

Hugely popular Bristol based band called 'Transition' who have appeared at many BISC and Globe Cafe events over the last 5 years, and featuring regular BISC volunteer - Josh, are launching their new album on Saturday 23rd February at Elim Centre in Bristol. Full details on their website - http://www.transition.tk/. Buy your tickets now!!
(Also appearing at Globe Cafe Unplugged on Friday 22nd February! See BISC website for details.)