Umbrage

Umbrage
1. shadow
2. offense or resentment

Examples:
1. John took umbrage and challenged Bill to a duel
2. His manner was so open and kind that he wiped away the slightest umbrage

cited from Dictionary.com

Germany

Basics:
Population: 82 mill
Size: slightly smaller than Montana
GDP per capita (PPP): $31, 900
Literacy: 99%
Life Expectancy: 76 (males) 82 (females)

Government:
Head of State: President Koehler
Head of Gov't: Chancellor Merkel
Bicameral legislature

Interesting Facts:
The population of Germany is slowly decreasing (-.03%)
West Germany contines to fund over $80 billion to East Germany each year.
The flag represents the colors of student volunteer uniforms who opposed Napoleon in 1813.

Culture:
Germans don't like ice cubes in their drinks
There are specialized schools for everything: even waitresses have 3 years of specialized schooling
Squeezing your thumb (not crossing fingers) is a sign of good luck

Deprecate

Pronunciation: DEH-pri-kate

1. To pray against (archaic)
2. To strongly oppose or discourage
3. To belittle or depreciate

Example 1: Stalin sometimes depricated his cult, but overtly encouraged it.
Example 2: Jon is a modest guy; he gets straight A's but always deprecates his abilities by saying he is a slow reader.
Example 3: The third quest of biblical scholars constantly deprecate the authenticity of the Bible as historical fact.

E-fellowing tips

Online Fellowing:

Basics:
Go to Review in the major toolbar. Use the "track changes" button or the "new comment" function. (Word 2007)
Go to "tools" and then "track changes" if Word 2000 or 2003.

Tips:

1. Get a library computer in 'no shhhh' zone to show students how to adopt changes on e-fellowing
2. Use short cuts ALT + CTRL + M

Finland

Finland

History: Part of Sweden from 12th to 19th centuries. Became a part of the Russian empire from 1809 to 1917 when it gained its independence. Successfully defended against the Russians in WWII (though lost some land)

Basic Facts:
Population: 5.2 mill
Life expectancy: 75 (male) 82(female)
GDP per capita: 33,500
Size: slightly smaller than Montana
Literacy Rate: 100%
% below poverty line: NA%
Capitol: Helsinki

Government:
President Halonen (head of state)
Prime Minister Vanhanen
Unicameral legislature
Judicial court chosen by the president

Interesting Facts:
There are more mobile phones than people in Finland.
There are almost 3 cell phones for each land telephone line.
Only 7% of Finland is arable
Only Scandinavian country to join the EU in 1999.

Ecuador, South America

Basic Facts:

Population: 13.5 million
Size: Slightly smaller than Nevada
President: President Correa
Literacy Rate: 91%
Av. Life Expectancy: 72(male) 78 (female)
% below poverty line: 38%
Capital: Quito
GDP per capita: $4,500

Government: Executive (president Correa), Legislative (unicamera based on PR) and Judicial which oversees the constitution.

Culture:
-Not polite to say when the guest should leave
-Can be 10 min to an hour late depending on the activity

Colombia, S. America

Colombia Basic Facts:

Capital: Bogota
Population: 44 million
Size: 1 million sq. km. or twice the size of texas
President: Alvaro Uribe Velez
GDP per capita: 8,600
Percent below poverty line: 49%
Literacy Rate: 92%

Government: President Uribe is head of government and state. legislative with senate and house of representatives, and four on the judicial court (there is a separate supreme court)

Politics: Insurgent groups include the FARC, (revolutionary armed forces of Colombia) and the ELN (national liberation army)