Thanks for a GREAT class last week!! I loved it! Your presentations and comments and participation made me so happy.
Last class, Jerry gave us a more in depth presentation on the history of the trees that he and many others are trying to save. Get in touch with Jerry if you'd like to help too!! Jeff told us about the latest breaking IPCC climate report, which found that "human impact is unequivocal." Jeff's presentation was perfectly timed, as we all then moved out to the islands that are most endangered by the rising sea levels caused by global warming. The islanders of Kiribati, Nauru, Vanuatu, Tuvalu, and Palau all gave interesting presentations with cool details about their homes and creative suggestions for how to save their homes.
I'll be sending you a full class review soon!
Last Thursday night when I got home from class (still happy and excited because the class was so wonderful, thanks to everyone!), I glanced at my newspaper and was surprised to find an article talking about one man's solution to exactly the same problem we'd just discussed in class. The article is about a family from Kiribati, who are "refugees from climate change" because they feel that the rising sea levels make their home too dangerous to go back to. The article also mentions some of the Kiribati government's plans as well. Check it out!:
'Climate Refugee' fights to stay in New Zealand in long shot case
And that night in the same newspaper I found another article that is a great link from Oceania to our new topic, Europe: just follow the jellyfish! When we first began to study Australia and Oceania, I sent you a video clip of the beautiful jellyfish swimming in Jellyfish Lake in Palau; now that we're turning our attention to Europe, allow me to send you a short article about anti-nuke jellyfish in Sweden...! ;D
Jellyfish force nuclear plant shutdown in Sweden
I hope you're all having a great double ten holiday. Please remember:
NO CLASS TONIGHT!! ENJOY 10/10!!!
Tomorrow I'm going to Japan for a few days, and in keeping with our new European theme, I'm going to be studying the hardanger fiddle with a great Norwegian fiddler. The Hardanger fiddle is a kind of violin played in Norway (see 
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hardanger_fiddle).
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hardanger_fiddle).
Here are two clips of hardanger fiddle music for you all; two very different tunes played by the same fiddler:
Annbjørg Lien - Kjempe-Jo
String Sisters/Annbjørg Lien - Horsebell Tune
Let me know what you think of this kind of music! :)
I'll be back in time for class on 10/17, and I'll have a surprise European guest with me! (He's not from Norway though, and he doesn't play the fiddle either!)
On 10/17 we'll be focusing on Europe. Whether you think of Europe's history or culture or nature or cities or science or current events, Europe is diverse and fascinating.
Please choose a topic that you're interested in, and tell us something specific about Europe that you know from experience or that you learned from the news or from a little research! We can all learn so much from each other!
Presentations can be from half a minute to twelve minutes long!! Have fun and relax and feel free to be creative and present exactly the way you want to!
Please let me know that you plan to present!
Take care everyone, and see you on 10/17!
Sincerley, Abbie
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