By this short video, I would like to provide for you some brief information about my motherland, Albania, which is one of the most important countries in the history of Southern Europe in the peninsula of Balkan. Today's Republic of Albania takes place in between two of the most ancient civilizations among Europe, Roman and Greek one's territories. As you can see from the video, there many evidences in different parts of Albania which show the antiquity in those lands and the authenticity of Albanians. The ancestors of Albanians, known as Illyrians, were an authentic race lying among the whole Adriatic sea. They have been fighting against Roman Empire for their freedom, as their name implies, Illyrian=i lire meaning "free one" in modern albanian language. Those wars are known in history as roman-illyrian wars and they ended by Romans capturing Illyria's latest king, Gentus. The war for independence and freedom of whole Albanian nation has never stopped. The next invaders like Byzantine, Ottomans and neo-roman fascist Italians have considered Albania as an important strategic land and have wanted to make it theirs. Albanians call themselves "Shqipetar" which means people from the land of the eagles because the eagle symbolizes the freedom in Albanian culture. Even the flag of Albania consists of a double-headed eagle. I say the war of Albanians for freedom has never stopped because we have an actual example nowadays: Kosovo, the newest state in Europe. Known as Dardania in the Illyrian era, it was one of the Illyrian tribes, and for centuries till the latest 20th one, Kosovo has been known as part of Albanian nation, as the people living there speak the same language and share the same culture with the ones in actual Albanian Republic. Yet, Serbian invaders, pretending that Kosovo is their territory just because 10% of the people living there are Serbians, have wanted to make Kosovo their part. They could not achieve their goal thanks to the resistance of UCK(National Protecting Army of Kosovo) and nowadays most of the countries have accepted the newest state of Europe, the second Albanian state, Kosovo. It could not be else, as the ancestors of Kosovo people were lovers of freedom(Illyrians). Yet, there are many ethnic problems with today's Albania. It is a fact that the actual Republic of Albania is the only state in the world which is surrounded by people who speak the same language and share the same traditions. Our neighbors, Greeks, Macedonians and Serbs have been given from the times of the ending period of Ottoman empire some lands of Albania, by the European council of Versaille, after the 1st World War. Hoping that in the future Albanian ethnic issue will be solved and hoping that this task has somehow illuminated you  about Albania, here I end my writing.

EXERCISE

1-Our beagles loves hunting. If someone opens the back door for her,she barrels down porch steps into yard.she runs back and forth across the lawn in ecstasy.her nose cruises the wet grass for smells of cats,rabbit,and other presences too subtle for human detection.While she is sniffing,she spins her tail .n quick circles.It spins clockwise first,then it spins counterclockwise.Sniffing and spinning always occur together.They seem to propel her along.

2-Although The Goverment Printing Office in Washibgton D.C.,isa source of much useful information,few people know about it.GPO publishes pamphlets and books whose subjects range from the dangers of X-rays from home TV sets to the identification of mushrooms.About 27,000 publications are offered through the Superintendent of Documents.Many of them are in expensive and for some of them,there is no charge at all.

3-John Jacob Astor, a German immigrant,reaped America's first fortune.He made his inital money trading Indian furs.He was lowborn,uneducation and never learnt to speak English properly.He carried on his business to the end in an accent that was redolent of the Hamburg gutters.

Video reflection

In this video there are three foreign students who are asked to talk about their new university life in Ohio Northern University. The students are; Linxi Du from China, Krishna Oedjaghir from Netherland and Arata Doba from Japan.

When asked why they chose America as a place where to study at, the students answered differently. Linxi said that the main reason for choosing USA is that in her hometown, China, she would not be able to get the major she has been dreaming for and that is because the high school grades has to be very high. Krishna is fascinated by the creativity and team work which are provided by the universities in USA, which, according to her, they are not provided in the European universities. Whereas the Japanese Arata has been used to studying abroad, especially in English speaking countries such as England and Canada.

They have different stories in the way they heard about the ONU and decided to come there. Some of them have come by international student programs, and some of them by means of their relatives who live and well know USA.

While talking about the differences of USA and their countries in terms of education, Arata says that in Japan once you have made one decision, it is like you have pulled the trigger to catch the only aim, there is no way you can take it back. So, in Japan there is no possibility of changing your major once you have chosen one at the beginning. Krishna instead, blames the Dutch education system for being very strict and not opened to different curricula or ideas.

They also talked about the life in ONU and their expenses while doing their majors there for one year. They seem to like the campus life and university methods of teaching and they have different expenses each for one year of study in ONU. Chinese girl explains how some tradition on clothing in China are different. Arata is surprised how the American people are so outgoing and he likes that. The Dutch girl is very impressed with her new life in ONU and USA as well as she is getting new experiences and capturing methods of individualistic progressivity.

What is good and what is bad about being a new student at METU?

In Turkey, METU has always been one of the best universities. This fact, and the fact that some

 of my friends from high school had chosen METU, I decided to come to this university. At the beginning I was very fascinated with the campus life and the opportunities that the campus was offering to the students. With my friends we were having a lot of fun. As a result we did not undergo any homesickness in that sense. However, before making the decision, we as students should have considered two disadvantages of being a student at METU. To begin with, those students who do not live in Ankara(as we were) will have to make a change in their lives and start living in a dormitory or a flat with friends. Yet, this is not as easy and enjoyable as it seems. Getting used to other people's habits or waiting in line in order to use the bathroom may make life harder. Moreover, taking care of all the housework used to give us headaches, particularly during the exam weeks. Most students end up losing their best friends due to unnecessary quarrels over such issues, but fortunately I did not experience such a thing. Secondly, we had to study incredibly hard as the system requires attending the lessons regularly, taking notes, and having a study schedule. Moreover, since the teaching staff is of best quality, their expectations are relatively higher and also they are demanding as well. Those who believe that they can have an "all fun - no work" lifestyle at METU have no chance to retain their studentships for a long time. In conclusion I would like to have a suggestion for the new students who would choose METU, which is: “before choosing METU as a university to study at, you should think twice and if you are determined to do so, you should be ready for these challenges, because, in order to be the master of knowledge, you have to be the slave of work!”. 

(approx. 4oo words)