Yui Tsuzuki arrived in Durham six months ago with her husband, who is a visiting scholar at the Duke Law School. They call Japan home. In the following interview, Yui shares about her experiences as an International Spouse in the U.S.
How did you feel when you first arrived in the United States? What surprised you?
This week we’re traveling to Southeast Asia to visit Indonesia, the world’s fourth most populated country!
This week, we received a request from a member of our undergraduate international student community. As the only Gambian undergrad at Duke, he suggested that we highlight the flag of the Republic of the Gambia. We thought it was a great idea!
Zimbabwe is set in south-central Africa, between two of the well-known African rivers, the Limpopo and the Zambezi. It won its independence in 1980.
Zimbabwe’s former president, Robert Gabriel Mugabe, was one of the oldest and longest-serving leaders of a non-royal country in the world. He has served as the leader of Zimbabwe for the past 36 years. He was succeeded in 2017.
The Republic of the Philippines is an archipelago in Southeast Asia located between the South China Sea and the Pacific Ocean. The nation is made up of more than 7,641 islands, the largest of which is Luzon. Both the Manila, the capital, and Quezon City, the most populous city, are located on Luzon.
This week, we’re highlighting the European country of Croatia. Croatia lies on the Adriatic Sea and is part of the Balkan Peninsula.
Siddharth Kawadiya is a PhD student studying Environmental Engineering. Following a suggestion from his advisor in India, he decided to come to the U.S. in pursuit of more opportunities in his field. Siddharth has been working with Professor Marc Deshusses in the Pratt School of Engineering’s Sanitation Solutions Department. He started off with only a year-long thesis back in 2015, but ended up enjoying his time here and chose to extend it. Now, he is in his fourth year at Duke!
This week, we’re going to the southeast coast of Africa to celebrate Madagascar, the island that took humans 300,000 years to discover. It was colonized by settlers in 500 AD, 300,000 years after the first appearance of humans in Africa. The island’s secluded coves were historically safe havens for many pirates. Ile Sainte-Marie, four miles off the east coast, was known as “the island of pirates” on maps in the 1600’s.
Today, we celebrate Turkey in honor of the many global scholars and spouses from Turkey. A few weeks ago, Merve Falan gave a fantastic presentation about her home country. She shared about the country’s history and culture and even provided Turkish treats for everyone to try. Merve shared that “Istanbul is a magical city that tells you about everything. The city is a storyteller.” By the end of her presentation, most of the audience was ready to pack their bags and travel to Turkey.
The Flag of the Week this week is inspired by Hector Hernandez, the Project Manager at Duke’s Facilities Management Department. When he was 13 years old, Hernandez moved from Torréon, northern Mexico to the suburbs of Chicago.
