Author: Emil Lazarian

Armenian opposition party against government’s constitutional reforms
Arminfo
24 May 05
YEREVAN
The National Democratic Bloc [NDB] opposition party calls on the
country’s public to vote against draft constitutional amendments drawn
up by the ruling coalition of Armenia, NDB leader Arshak Sadoyan has
said from the rostrum of the National Assembly.
He said that the draft constitutional amendments drawn up by the
ruling coalition will not help develop democracy in Armenia. He
pointed out that the draft constitutional amendments adopted by the
coalition will bring about new public clashes, unfairness and a growth
in migration.
Sadoyan said that the first 10 days of June will see an event which
will announce a programme on preparing the people for rejecting “the
draft amendments proposed by the coalition”. He called on the
political forces that see eye-to-eye with him on this issue to
participate in the event.
It must be remembered that along with the coalition’s draft
amendments, the parliament also considered the draft constitutional
amendments drawn up by Sadoyan and rejected them.
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

Azer Tag, Azerbaijan
May 24 2005
MEETING OF PRESIDENTS OF AZERBAIJAN’S ILHAM ALIYEV AND TURKEY’S AHMET
NECDET SEZER
[May 24, 2005, 21:01:35]
On May 24 at the Presidential Palace was held a meeting between the
Azerbaijan President Ilham Aliyev and Turkish President Ahmet Necdet
Sezer.
President Sezer said the Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan pipeline’s commissioning
ceremony and its participation in that are historical events.
Turkey’s President has congratulated its Azerbaijani counterpart and
noted the pipeline will play an important role in the economic
development of both countries.
Having noted the Baku-Tbilisi-Erzurum gas pipeline will also
commissioning successfully head of the Turkish state has exclusively
recollected the role of the national leader of Azerbaijani people and
great son of the Turkic world Heydar Aliyev.
Azerbaijan’s President Ilham Aliyev has highly estimated the position
of brotherly country and focused on political, economic, cultural
relations between the countries.
During the meeting was stressed that Turkey will support henceforth
the Azerbaijan’s position on the Armenia-Azerbaijan conflict over
Nagorno Karabakh.
The Azerbaijani leader presented to President Ahmet Necdet Sezer a
keepsake gift, which had been specially made on the occasion of the
BTC pipeline commissioning.

Today, Azerbaijan
May 24 2005
Azeri Parliament to discuss changes to the Elections Code in June

23 May 2005 [12:58] – Today.Az

“I do not want to go into details of the work being conducted with
the Venetian Commission. I think that a project related to the
changes to be made to the Elections Code will be presented to the
parliament to be discussed at the beginning of June”.
These words were told by the director of the social-political
department if the President’s Office Ali Hasanov in his explanation
given to the journalists.
According to his words, the changes to be made to the Code will be
clear after the parliament discussions.
A.Hasanov bearing his relation to the declaration of the USA
president George Bush about democratic changes’ encircling whole
Caucasus and Central Asia said that the democratic transformation
process was going in the whole world and Armenia and Georgia were
also included in this transformation: “I value this declaration as a
call to democracy. The democratic transformation process is also
going in Azerbaijan, though some countries chose the revolution way,
Azerbaijan is developing in the progress way. We are developing in
the democratic direction in the evolution period and will also hold
this way in future”.
/APA/

URL:
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

AzerTag, Azerbaijan
May 24 2005
MINISTER OF NATIONAL SECURITY OF AZERBAIJAN MEETS WITH DELEGATION OF
GERMAN BUNDESTAG
[May 24, 2005, 16:41:56]
Minister of National Security of Azerbaijan Republic,
general-lieutenant Edlar Mahmudov on 24 May, has met with the
chairman of the budget affairs commission of Bundestag of Germany
Manfred Karstens, chairman of the reliance affairs committee Walter
Scholler, vice-president of the Federal Investigation Service,
brigadier general Varner Scheve and others.
The Minister informed members of German Bundestag on the carried out
reforms in legal and democratic state building, socio-economic
development, as well as the measures taken for strengthening of
stability for realization of world-scale projects.
The visors were told on the role of the ministry of national
security, on the works done for strengthening of its legislation base
in accordance with international standards.
The Minister also informed on measures of fighting terrorism, combat
against organized transnational crimes, on the socio-political
situation in the Republic, the Armenia-Azerbaijan, Nagorno Karabakh
conflict, the uncontrolled areas occupied by Armenia, illegal
migration and other crucial problems.
Expressing gratitude for provided information, the visitors regretted
on lack of information about all these in the West, and stressed
necessity of carrying our certain works in this direction.
Members of delegation expressed confidence that the visit would be
useful for strengthening of the relations between two countries.
At the meeting also joined by the ambassador of the Federative
Republic of Germany to Azerbaijan Detlef Lingemann, also was
exchanged a number of other issues of mutual interest.

AKI, Italy
May 24 2005
OIL: ANALYSIS – CAUCASUS PIPELINE LEAVES RUSSIA IN THE COLD AND
TURKEY TO BENEFIT

Istanbul, 23 May (AKI) – After 12 years of setbacks and disagreements
the taps are ready to turn on a 2.6 billion-dollar giant pipeline
which will pump oil from the Caspian Sea to Turkey and on to the
world’s energy markets – a process which stands to sap Moscow of some
of its influence over the energy resource-rich Caucasus region.
Billed as the “energy project of the century” the Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan
(BTC) pipeline will start operations on Wednesday, its inauguration
symbolising an end to the bickering between nations and oil companies
that brought so many delays and changes of plan.
The 1,774 kilometre pipeline starts in Baku, the captial of
Azerbaijan, from where an ongoing territorial dispute with
neighbouring Armenia forced engineers to incorporate a northward
detour up towards Tbilisi, the capital of Georgia. The structure then
winds down south through Armenia and onto the Turkish Mediterranean
port of Ceyhan.
The new pipeline which starts at Baku’s Sangachal terminal and end
ups running the bulk – some 1,070 kilometres – of its length through
Turkey, avoids Russian territory altogether.
This route differs vastly from Russia’s original ambitious “northern
line” project of 1995, which linked the Caspian Sea with the Russian
Black Sea port of Novorossick, with the pipeline running through the
Chechen capital, Grozny.
That route temporarily hooked up with another pipeline, the US-backed
Baku-Tbilisi-Batumi (Georgia) “western line” but in 1999, the Grozny
link had to be abandoned following a wave of sabotage attacks by
Chechen rebels fighting Moscow’s rule. An alternative was also needed
because of the “western line’s” modest carrying capacity.
“Oil and natural gas from Kazakhstan and Azerbaijan, has been
channeled to markets in the West through Russia. Russia controls the
volume of exports and dictates the prices,” Nadir Devlet, an analyst
at Istanbul’s Yeditepe University, told Adnkronos International
(AKI).
“But with the BTC project, Azerbaijani oil production will no longer
depend on Russian policies,” said Devlet, adding that in the long run
the other former Soviet central Asian republics, Kazakhstan and
Turkmenistan, may also link up with the project, further isolating
Moscow.
“This weakens Russia’s position in the energy-rich region. Iran on
the other hand [which some also view as another of the project’s
major losers] will not be affected by the BTC because for Tehran, the
priority is to maintain control of Turkmenistan’s natural gas exports
[for which it acts as a conduit],” Devlet explained.
The BTC pipeline was built by a 11-member consortium led by British
Petroleum (BP) which owns a 30 percent share. The next largest
stakeholder is the Azerbaijan State Oil Company, AZNEFT with 25
percent followed by the Turkish state oil company, TPAO, with 6.5
percent. Italian energy giant ENI, which has extensive drilling and
exploration rights Azerbaijan and Kazakhstan
The BTC’s carrying capacity is a staggering 50 million metric tons of
oil a year, or some 1 million barrels every day. Just to fill its
length will take five months, with the first oil expected to arrive
in Ceyhan by the end of the year.
The BTC’s inaguration comes as the oil price continues to hover above
the 50 dollar a barrel mark. With growing concerns about dwindling
global reserves expected to keep prices high, the pipeline is seen
from a market perspective as a welcome boost in supply.
But the project continues to draw criticism from skeptics who
question the wisdom of constructing a strategically important
pipeline through a region as politcally volatile as the southern
Caucasus.
Azerbaijan and Armenia’s bloody conflict over the enclave of Nagorno
Karabakh in the mid-1990s remains unresolved and cross-border clashes
still occur. Georgia’s government, installed in 2003 after the “Rose
Revolution” which toppled the country’s pro-Moscow leaders, is
grappling with break-away movements in the regions of Abkhazia and
South Ossetia, which are backed by Russia.
Consortium members have dismissed such arguments, insisting that
their investment is a safe one.

(Vahit Bora/Pwm/Aki)

AZG Armenian Daily #093, 24/05/2005
Appeal
STOP TURKEY ENTERING THE EU
Assyrian, Armenia and Greek Orthodox communities of Europe sent a joint
petition to the leadership of European Union asking to deny Turkey’s
accession. Turkey, the petition reads, with its Islamic fundamentalist
government has proven itself unworthy of joining such a prestigious union.
The petition created by Ninos Toma is posted on
enabling supporters to sign under it.
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

AZG Armenian Daily #093, 24/05/2005
Region
BASES OF BATUMI AND AKHALKALAK ARE OF NO STRATEGIC IMPORTANCE
What’s the Meaning of Gyumri Base?
President Vladimir Putin of Russia stated yesterday that the military bases
of Georgia are not essential for Russia’s security. But, Putin says, it
would be desirable not to see bases of other states after the withdrawal of
Russian ones. According to Novosti agency, Putin said that those bases are
of no strategic importance for Russia and added, “This is not my opinion but
those from the Supreme Headquarters of Russian Armed Forces”.
Putin’s statement rises a question: if the bases of Georgia are not
important for Russia, then what’s the significance of Russian bases in
Armenia?

L’Express
23 mai 2005
Mémoire vive
par Lautrou Pierre-Yves
Les racines de Patrick Devedjian comptent. Beaucoup. Arménien par son
père, élevé dans un pensionnat arménien, il a transmis cette identité
à ses quatre fils, dont la mère, Sophie, née Vanbremeersch, est
originaire du Nord.
Depuis longtemps, il s’investit dans la communauté: “Il a toujours
été présent”, confie Alexis Govcyan, ancien président du Comité du 24
avril, qui regroupait les organisations se battant pour la
reconnaissance du génocide arménien. Une reconnaissance votée à
l’Assemblée nationale le 18 janvier 2001. “Il a fait, ce jour-là,
l’un de ses plus beaux discours”, se souvient sa femme. Que lui
apporte son arménitude? “Je sais ce qu’est l’émigration. Et ça m’a
donné la passion de la justice.” Aujourd’hui, cet attachement
viscéral fait aussi de lui, discrètement, l’un des premiers
fournisseurs d’arguments aux opposants à l’entrée de la Turquie dans
l’Union européenne.
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

World Literature Forum Kicks Off in Seoul
Korea Times
May 23, 2005

For three days starting tomorrow, Seoul will become a crucible of
thought and ideas over an everlasting question: “What can literature
do for world peace?”
The Second Seoul International Forum for Literature, to be held at the
Sejong Center for the Performing Arts, will bring 19 of the world’s
literary giants together from 12 nations, as well as some 60 Korean
writers, to seek an answer to the challenging question.
Participants will include Nobel Prize laureate Kenzaburo Oe, French
philosopher Jean Baudrillard and Gary Snyder, an American poet well
known for his “environmental poetry.” Also present will be Margaret
Drabble, the English novelist who wrote “The Red Queen,” based on
the story of Choson princess.
Their Korean counterparts are also heavyweights including Baek
Nak-cheong, professor emeritus of Seoul National University; Yu
Jong-ho, professor emeritus of Yonsei University; Hyun Gi-young,
president of the Korean Culture & Arts Association; Hwang Seok-young,
novelist; Choi Jang-jip, professor of Korea University; Bok Geo-il,
novelist; Ko Un, poet; and Hwang Ji-woo, poet.
Hosted by the Daesan Foundation and the Korean Culture & Arts
Foundation, the forum is also expected to announce a “Seoul Peace
Declaration” on Friday during a visit by the participants to the
truce village on the border with North Korea.
“The declaration will address the broad issues of world peace rather
than mention a specific issue, such as the problems on the Korean
peninsula,” the organizing committee chairman Kim U-chang said during
a press conference early this month.
Under the overarching theme of “Writing for Peace,” the forum will
deal with 13 subcategories: Human Values and Political Change; The
Idea of Perpetual Peace; East Asian Ideas of World Order; Ideals of
Peace in the Korean Tradition; Power, Human Values and Political
Order; Dictatorships, Wars andPeace; Peace and Difference: Gender,
Race, Religion ; Literature and Human Universality; Technological
Change and the Globalization of Communication; Varieties of Modernity
in the World; Varieties of Western Modernity; Commonality of EastAsian
Cultures; Past, Present and Future; Poverty and the Stratification of
the World; Ecology, Sustainable Growth and Literature.
“The Forum will also provide an invaluable opportunity for Korean
literature to finally begin staking its claim on the international
scene, making possible a true intellectual exchange between Korean
authors and some of the literary world’s best and brightest,” the
organizer said in its statement.
The forum will provide simultaneous translation in Korean, English,
French or each relevant author’s native tongue throughout the
forum. Each author will also hold book readings, lectures, and smaller
symposiums in universities, media outlets and publishers. The
organizers will also broadcast its proceedings live on its homepages,
and
The Daesan Foundation plans to compile all papers presented at the
forum into a volume and publish it afterward in Korean and in English.
The first Seoul International Forum was held in 2000 under a theme of
“Writing Across Boundaries.” Then Nobel Prize winner Wole Soyinka
and French sociologist Pierre Bourdieu visited Seoul.
For more information on this year’s forum, contact the organizers at
the homepages or (02) 725-5418.
The following are the 19 foreign participants of the Seoul
International Forum for Literature. – ED.
Kenzaburo Oe
Japanese novelist
Oe’s works are rooted in traditional stories and myths, but are
related to life in the modern world, such as “The Silent Cry”
(1967). The Nobel Prize-winning author completed the publication of
his trilogy “The FlamingGreen Tree” in 1995, just after he received
the 1994 Nobel Prize in Literature. His next novel was “Somersault”
(2003). In the 1970s, he campaigned against the imprisonment of the
Korean pro-democratic poet Kim Ji-ha. Nowadays, he is critical of the
Japanese government’s drift toward extreme nationalism.
Robert Hass
American poet
Poet laureate Hass has shown great interest in the poets of Asia and
is particularly noted for his admiration of work of the Korean poet Ko
Un. He currently teaches English Literature at U.C. Berkeley and
collaborates closely with Gary Snyder and other writers on
environmental issues. His books of poetry include “Sun Under Wood”
(1996), “Human Wishes” (1989), “Praise” (1979), and “Field
Guide” (1973). He is currently a Chancellor of The Academy of
American Poets.
Shigehiko Hasumi
Japanese critic
Hasumi is famed as a film critic, critic of symbolic culture and
specialist in French literature. He has served as president of the
University of Tokyo, where he is now a professor emeritus. His
publications include “The Invention of Mediocrity,” “Antitheory of
the Japanese Language,” “Mnemonic Devices in Cinema” and “Film
Lunatics: Here, There, and Everywhere.” He has deeply influenced
major Japanese film directors such as Hideo Nakata, Kiyoshi Kurosawa
and Shinji Aoyama.
Tibor Meray
Hungarian novelist and journalist
Meray worked in North Korea as a military news correspondent during
the Korean War. He spent 14 months there and witnessed the signing of
the 1953 Armistice at Panmunjom, where he will visit again on
Friday. After the 1956Hungarian Uprising, he took refuge in Paris
where he currently heads the Hungarian Human Rights Commission. Among
his main publications are “Reporting From Korea” and “The Truth of
Germ Warfare.”
Orhan Pamuk
Turkish novelist
Pamuk’s first novel, “Cevdet Bey and His Sons” (1982), won the Orhan
Kemal Novel Prize. His historical novel “The White Castle” (1985),
extended his reputation abroad. Other works include “New Life”
(1995), “My Name Is Red” (2001), and “Snow” (2004). His novels are
rich with allusion to old Sufi stories and traditional Islamic
tales. He has recently published a book about Istanbul, a city that
fascinates him. His books are now translated into 20 languages.
Ngugi Wa Thiong’o
Kenyan novelist, essayist and playwright
Ngugi made his debut as a novelist with “Weep Not, Child” (1964). It
was the first novel in English to be published by an East African
author. The transition from colonialism to post-colonialism and the
crisis of modernityhave been central issues in Ngugi’s writings. In
1980, Ngugi published the first modern novel written in an African
language, rejecting the use of English. He is a professor at the
University of California at Irvine.
Margaret Drabble
British novelist, biographer and critic
The former actress at the Royal Shakespeare Company at
Stratford-upon-Avon published her first novel, “A Summer Birdcage”
in 1963. Her novels since then include a trilogy of “The Radiant
Way” (1987), “A Natural Curiosity” (1989) and “The Gates of
Ivory” (1991). After attending the first Seoul International Forum in
2000, she wrote and published “The Red Queen” (2005), inspired in
part by the tragic memoirs of an 18th-century Korean crown princess.
Jean-Marie Gustave Le Clezio
French novelist
Between 1967 and 1970, Le Clezio mainly lived with a tribe of Embera
Indians in the Panamanian jungles. He then taught literature at the
University of New Mexico and translated Native American myths. The
author of over 30 books, including “La Fievre” (1965, Fever), “Le
Deluge” (1966, The Flood), “L’extase Materielle” (1967, The
Material Ecstasy), “Chercheur d’Or” (1985, Gold Seeker), “Desert”
(1987) and “Et La Quarantaine” (1995, Quarantine). His latest novel
is “Revolutions” (2003).”
Luis Sepulveda
Chilean novelist
Sepulveda was imprisoned in 1979 by the Pinochet regime while still a
student for over two years. In exile, he took part in a UNESCO
research project on the impact of colonization on the Amazonian
Indians. The result was his first novel, “Un Viejo que leia Novelas
de Amor (The Old Man Who Read Love Stories).” Other works include
“Diario de un Killer Sentimental (Diary ofa Sentimental Killer),”
“Nombre de Torero (Name of a Bullfighter)” and “Mundo de Fin Del
Mundo (World at the End of the World).”
Jean Baudrillard
French sociologist, cultural critic and postmodern theorist
Baudrillard is one of France’s leading thinkers and a living
legend. Some suggest that his thought has shifted “from the
post-Marxist (1968-71), to the socio-linguistic (1972-77), to the
techno-prophetic.” In recent years he has become best known as
prophet of the implosion of meaning that attends the postmodern
condition. He is currently a professor at the European Graduate School
in Saas-Fee, Switzerland.
Robert Coover
American novelist
Coover’s first novel, “The Origin of Brunists,” won the 1966 William
Faulkner Award. He is widely regarded as one of America’s most
influential living writers, author of some 15 groundbreaking books of
fiction, including “The Universal Baseball Association, Inc.,”
“J. Henry Waugh, Prop. (1968),” “Spanking the Maid (1981),”
“Ghost Town (1998)” and “Stepmother (2004).” He has been lauded as
an “old school postmodernist.” The New York Times Book Review has
called him the “master of hypertext.”
Masao Miyoshi
American thinker and essayist
Professor emeritus at the University of California, San Diego, Masao
Miyoshi has long been a controversial, prominent figure in Japanese
studies and in American academia in general. Some of his recent works
include reflections on the humanities in an increasingly capitalist
university. Major works include “Accomplices of Silence: The Modern
Japanese Novel (1975),” “Japan Is Not Interesting (2000)” and
“Ivory Tower in Escrow (2000).”
Erling Kittelsen
Norwegian poet and novelist
Kittelsen studied philosophy before he published his first volume of
poems, “Vile fugler (Wild Birds, 1970).” His writings are not only
read but also widely discussed and utilized by other artists,
independent theater groups and students. He is currently involved in a
number of projects designed to translate poems written in Chinese,
Arabic, Latvian and other languages into Norwegian. His plays include
“Abiriels l©ªve (Abiriel’s Lion, 1988)” and “Pa himmelen (In
Heaven, 2000).”
Mo Yan
Chinese novelist
Born as Guan Moye in 1956 in rural Shandong, northeastern China, he
has adopted the nom de plume Mo Yan, meaning “don’t speak” in
Chinese. He hashad nine novels and over 70 short stories published in
the past 22 years, quitea number of which have been translated into a
number of languages. The film version of the novel “Red Sorghum” won
first prize in Golden Bear award at the Berlin Film Festival in
1988. He is considered to be one of the most talented and interesting
modern Chinese writers.
Gary Snyder
American poet
Between working as a logger, a trail-crew member, and a seaman on a
Pacific tanker, Snyder studied Oriental languages at Berkeley (1953-6)
and was associated with Beat writers such as Ginsberg and Kerouac. He
also lived inJapan (1956-64), later studying Buddhism there. He now
teaches literature and “wilderness thought” at the University of
California at Davis. He has been described as an eco-poet and an
eco-warrior. He won a Pulitzer Prize for Poetry in 1975 for “Turtle
Island.”
Thomas Brussig
German novelist and dramatist
After six years working as a construction worker, as well as a museum
porter and dishwasher, Brussiq began to study sociology before going
on to study drama and film. He is one of Germany’s most visible
post-unification writers. His novelistic account of the fall of the
Berlin Wall, “Helden wie Wir (1995, Heroes Like Us),” has been
adapted into an award-winning stage play and film, and translated into
numerous languages.
Wolf Biermann German poet and dramatist
As a university student in East Germany, Biermann started to write
poems, which did not adhere to the individual demands of
socialism. Subsequently, his following works could only be published
in the West, including his first volume of poetry “Die Drahtharfe
(1965, The Wire Harp).” In 1976, while Biermann was on a concert tour
in West Germany, he was deprived of his citizenship, sparking a
protest that is often considered the beginning of the end of East
Germany.
Vera Grigorievna Galaktionova
Russian novelist
Born in 1948, Galaktionova’s works focus on Chernobyl, on regional
disputes such as that in Karabakh (along the frontier between
Azerbaijan and Armenia), the divisions within the spiritual unity of
Russia, the reasons for the collapse of the Soviet Union and
hostilities between different ethnic groups, investigating the
historical mechanisms underlying these social divisions. Her main
works include “The Mighty Cross,” “The Winged House,” “On Buyan
Island” and “Quiet Night.”
Bei Dao
Chinese Poet
Zhao Zhenkai was born in 1949 in Beijing. His pen name Bei Dao,
literally meaning “North Island,” was suggested by a friend as a
reference to his provenance from northern China and his typical
solitude. Writing in free verse, Bei Dao is best known for intensely
compressed images and cryptic style. Among the English translations of
his works are “Old Snow” (1991), “Landscape Over Zero” (1996) and
“Unlock” (2000).
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

Johnson County Daily Journal, IN
May 23 2005
Testing awaits exchange student
By ANNIE GOELLER
Daily Journal staff writer
When a person is accustomed to waking up to mountains, getting used
to rolling plains of green grass can be difficult.
Indiana is not the first state she’s been to in the United States,
but it is definitely the flattest, said Hasmik Sukiasyan, an exchange
student with the Future Leaders Exchange program.
Sukiasyan, a junior, was one of three foreign students who came to
Whiteland Community High School this school year, she said. After an
unsuccessful attempt to join the program in 2003, she was accepted
with her second application in 2004.
Sukiasyan is from Armenia and has been staying with the Angle family
in Whiteland since August.
She has had a lot of fun in central Indiana, but she missed her
family and her home, where she could see mountains everyday, she
said.
Sukiasyan is set to return to Armenia May 30, she said.
During her stay in Indiana, Sukiasyan has volunteered with the
Whiteland Christian Church, helped with Whiteland’s tree giveaway,
taken a trip to Disney World with her school’s choir and learned what
it was like to have a little sister, she said.
Her school back home would probably be happy to know she has improved
her English, studied biology, learned more about the American culture
and taught the people of Whiteland about Armenia.
People in Whiteland probably learned more about Armenia than
Sukiasyan learned about America, according to Hugh Ross, a Whiteland
native and community activist who worked with Sukiasyan on the tree
giveaway.
Ross said he immediately liked Sukiasyan because she is an
`exceedingly charming, intelligent, cognizant girl.’
The Angle family has hosted nine foreign exchange students before but
never a high school student and never for this long, Robin Angle
said.
Other students they hosted had cars and had been on their own before,
but Sukiasyan was different. She was with them every day and
everywhere they went, including when they visited family in Kansas
for Christmas, Andrew Angle, Sukiasyan’s host dad, said.
With Sukiasyan, the Angles were able to learn about a different
country and culture. Most of their students before were from Japan,
Robin Angle said.
Andrew Angle, who plays the saxophone, said he was excited to be able
to share music with Sukiasyan, who plays piano. They even played a
duet at his family’s church in Kansas, he said.
And their 4-year-old daughter Emily got to see what it was like to
have a big sister, Andrew Angle said.
Emily will be heartbroken when Sukiasyan leaves, her mother said. The
two even have a special hug.
Tickling and playing will be the 4-year-old’s favorite memories of
Sukiasyan, Emily said.
Sukiasyan will have to jump right back into her life back home. The
17-year-old is graduating this year, but first she must pass 16 exams
to get her high school diploma in the next month. Then take her
college entrance exams later this summer, she said.
Normally, she would have to take six tests at the end of the school
year. But because she was in Whiteland, she’ll have to take exams
that she missed.
Her first exam is on the day she returns to Armenia, after four
planes and a 15-hour trip that will take her across nine time zones.
None of the classes she took in Whiteland will count in Armenia, she
said. But she is using the information she learned in her classes
here to help pass her looming high school exams.
But she still feels like she learned a lot here that will help her
prepare for college. She plans to study medicine in Armenia, she
said.
Her host family is glad to have learned an important lesson from
Sukiasyan.
`People are all the same in that they are all different,’ Andrew
Angle said.
Before she leaves, Sukiasyan still has one more thing to add to the
list of things she has done while in Indiana, he said.
Since she has never driven a car and her family does not own one,
Andrew Angle wants her to drive his riding lawnmower, he said.