Halloween is always a favorite time of year here at Lewis & Clark. It is even more special when AES students get together with classmates, roommates and friendship families. What do you think of these pumpkins, jack-o'-lanterns and costumes?!

Welcome Party - Students and visiting foreign student advisors come together for snacks and lively conversation at AES Director, Joann Geddes' home. The Welcome Party provides the opportunity for newly arrived students to mingle with returning and former students, faculty and staff.

An impromptu get-together at the AES office. Included are some of the AES faculty/staff, one of our favorite "old" AES students from Waseda University, and the "newest" addition to the AES family. Can you guess who the proud papa is? It's *not* the man holding the baby!

Every spring the international students of Lewis & Clark College share their native food, clothing, customs and dances with the L.C. Community and people from all over Portland. In the morning, students present their culture through displays in country booths. In addition, students prepare and serve traditional dishes from their countries. In the afternoon, students present a fashion and talent show. The International Fair is a unique event in the Portland area.

It's sad to see the end of the year so soon. It seems like this year has just flown by!! Lewis & Clark College is happy to have many exchange programs with international universities. At the end of spring semester, we hosted a banquet to say good-bye to those students.

Picnic

On a day of beautiful weather, we had a picnic on lower campus for all the students who have studied in the AES program during fall and spring semesters.

We prepared the food ourselves:

When it rained, we sat around the campfire (after chopping wood ourselves):

Between times of rain, we walked on the beach of the beautiful Pacific Ocean with our friends:

When the rain stopped, the friendly squirrels came to visit, making us laugh.

Plus Program

For the past several summers, the AES has been proud to host students from the PLUS (Partnership for Learning Undergraduate Studies) program. This program is sponsored by the U.S. State Department, Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs, in cooperation with Amideast (America-Mideast Educational and Training Services ) and AED (Academy for Educational Development. The PLUS students are chosen from a pool of college age young people who have shown academic excellence, the potential for leadership, and the desire to improve relations between the U.S. and their native land. Students in the PLUS program (over 170 of them) come from sixteen countries located in the Middle East, North Africa and South Asia, and attend universities scattered about the U.S.

The students below are from the PLUS program. They are visiting the home of one of their AES instructors and are joined by one of their classmates from Japan.

Picnic

We came to the end of the term with mixed feelings: sadness at leaving good friends, excitement at moving on to new places and people, and relief that studies are done! A picnic at the outdoor pool brought students, teachers, friendship families and friends together for one last gathering. Our memories will last forever!