Seattle Celebrates “Syttende Mai” with Music and Fanfare at Bergen Place Park
By Lori Ann Reinhall, Seattle-Bergen Sister Cities Association.The 17th of May, or “Syttende Mai” as it is known in Norwegian, marks the day Norway ratified its constitution in the town of Eidsvoll (near Oslo) in 1814. After Christmas, it is the most important national holiday — a kind of Norwegian Fourth of July with much fanfare and flag-waving. It is also a special day for Norwegians and their descendants abroad to pay homage to the motherland. Nowhere else is the day observed with more style than in Seattle’s Ballard neighborhood, which has the largest ...
Music as International Language: Seattle Music Exchange Project Strengthens Sister City Ties
Blog contributed by Seattle-Bergen Sister City Association. Click here to view the original blog post on Medium.
When the Seattle-Bergen Sister City Association received an email from pianist Angelo Rondello making inquiries about the possibility of arranging a sister city tour, I wasn’t really sure what to expect. I knew of Rondello as one of the rising stars on the local musical scene but hadn’t yet had the chance to hear him perform live, let alone meet him. With our association going through a period of rebirth and rebuilding, I hadn’t either given much ...
Celebrating Rich and Vibrant Pakistani Culture through Folk Music
Blog contributed by Muhammad Saeed Sheikh, President, Houston-Karachi Sister City Association. Click here to view the original blog post on Medium.A “Celebration of Rich and Vibrant Pakistani Culture through Folk Music” event and welcome reception featuring newly appointed Consul General of Pakistan Honorable Aisha Farooqui was organized by Houston Karachi Sister City Association (HKSCA) in collaboration with the Consulate General of Pakistan and Sister Cities of Houston in September 2016. It was supported by the Houston Mayor’s Office of Trade & International ...
A Cooperative Feast for Sister Cities
Blog contributed by Carolyn Jabs, Co-Author, Cooperative Wisdom: Bringing People Together When Things Fall Apart. Click here to view the blog post on Medium.It was a cooperative feast. Edamame and guacamole, savory meatballs and delicate sushi rolls, deviled eggs and spicy chicken wings, olive bread and kale salad, cellophane noodles and Turkish delight.Santa Barbara has seven sister cities. And once a year the committees for those cities gather to share a meal in celebration of United Nations Day. Everyone brings a dish, and many of them represent the ...
Sister City Association Brings Bergen and Norway to Seattle
Blog contributed by Seattle-Bergen Sister City Association. Click here to view the original blog post on Medium.Annual fundraiser reception celebrates "Global Connections through Word Travel" with Mayor Murray, Jean Enersen, and Rick Steves.These days in Seattle there is a lot of buzz about the upcoming 2016 Seattle Sister Cities Reception at Seattle City Hall on October 6, from 6:00 to 8:00 p.m., and not in the least due to the efforts of the Seattle-Bergen Sister City Association. “With the theme ‘Global Connections through World Travel,’ Bergen naturally emerged ...
Ineffable Takamatsu
Blog contributed by Vanessa B. Nguyen, 2016 Student Ambassador, St. Petersburg, Florida. Click here to view the original blog post on Medium.How do I begin this without sounding cliche? It’s the last thing I want to do, sound unextraordinary when describing my experience in Takamatsu, Japan, a well hidden, extraordinary gem. If I absolutely had to describe my experience in such a charming city with a single word, I would have to absolutely say “ineffable.” Ironic, isn’t it?It was a short 10 days in Takamatsu, but a couple of minutes was all it took for me to fall ...
Sister Cities International Announces Winners of 2016 Annual Awards for Innovation in Arts and Culture
WASHINGTON, DC –The 2016 Sister Cities International Innovation Award for Arts and Culture recognizes the accomplishments of outstanding community and individual sister city programs that promote peace through mutual respect, understanding, and cooperation.The award was given to organizations in two sister city programs in different population categories. Norfolk Sister City Association, Inc. (NSCA) of Norfolk, Virginia won among cities with population under 500,000 and the City of San Antonio International Relations Office (CSAIRO) of San Antonio, Texas won among cities ...
Connecting Minneapolitans to the Realities of Life in Iraq: A Sister City Relationship between Najaf, Iraq and Minneapolis, Minnesota
Blog contributed by Jessy Belt, Deputy Director, Iraqi and American Reconciliation Project. Click here to view original blog post on Medium. “Stories matter. Many stories matter. Stories have been used to dispossess and to malign, but stories can also be used to empower and to humanize. Stories can break the dignity of a people, but stories can also repair that broken dignity.” —Chimamanda AdichieThe Iraqi and American Reconciliation Project (IARP) has managed the day to day work of the sister city relationship between Najaf, Iraq and Minneapolis, Minnesota ...
50 Years of History and Friendship: A Trip to Shizuoka
Blog by Mary D. Kane, President and CEO, Sister Cities International. Click here to view original post on Medium.This November I was extremely privileged to travel to Shizuoka, Japan along with an official delegation from their sister city Omaha, Nebraska. This partnership has a long, complicated, and exciting history, like many sister city partnerships.It all started in 1965 when a group of people in Omaha, Nebraska decided that they should form a sister city relationship with a city in Japan — Shizouka. What makes this partnership interesting and impactful is that ...
![Fumiko and Masahiro Sone. A retired TV executive, Masahiro Sone was a child when Shizuoka was bombed by the U.S. in 1945. [Photo by Michael Kelly/The World Herald]](https://sistercities.org/wp-content/uploads/2015/11/Fumiko-and-Masahiro-Sone.-A-retired-TV-executive-Masahiro-Sone-was-a-child-when-Shizuoka-was-bombed-by-the-U.S.-in-1945..jpg)
Sculpture Unveiling Celebrates 13 Years of Sister City Partnership
Blog submitted by Todd Bye, La Crosse-Friedberg Sister City Committee. Click here to view original post on Medium.The city of La Crosse, Wisconsin has a total of seven sister city relationships throughout Europe, Africa, and Asia. In late August 2015, a delegation of 14 people led by Friedberg, Germany Mayor “Burgermeister” Roland Eichman arrived in La Crosse. What marked this occasion as being so special was the presentation of a gift of a sculpture from the city of Friedberg which represented a lasting memorial to the friendships that have been built over the ...
