New Year’s in Australia

The land down under does it up for the New Year. From small town celebrations to worldwide fanfare, let’s take a peak at how Australia rings it in. First, there are some simple things. Where a Waterford Crystal ball sliding down a pole is part of a North American countdown, the Aussie’s count up—making noise Read More …

Out with the old, in with the New Year!

THREE…TWO…ONE! Happy New Year! Felice Anno Nuovo! Bliadhna mhath ur! While New Year celebrations in many parts of the world consist of fireworks, ball dropping and bar hopping, some countries ring in the New Year with pretty interesting traditions that date back hundreds, even thousands of years. This week, Explorica takes a look at some Read More …

Most Popular Tour of 2011: Costa Rica

As 2011 comes to an end, we are counting down some of our ‘most populars’ of the year. This past year, our most popular tour by far was Costa Rica.  Teachers and students just can’t seem to get enough of this tropical country—maybe because it provides an excellent combination of forest ecology, ocean and beach Read More …

Winter Holiday Fundraising, Idea 3—Creative Holiday Cards

It’s a tradition that goes back some 200 years. But the actual history of sending season’s greetings began in ancient Chinese and Egyptian societies who wished to exchange good will in the New Year. At different times throughout history, these greetings were written on papyrus and even woodcuts. Cards did not become popular until the Read More …

Winter Holiday Fundraising, Idea 2—Not Your Average Bake Sale

Celebrate a world of beliefs by teaching through sweets. December holidays include Christian Christmas, Jewish Hanukkah, Hindu Pancha Ganapati (or Winter Solstice) and Buddhist Bodhi Day among the celebrations. Here are some ideas to spread good cheer and great lessons. 1. Assign your students a December holiday and have them do some research on the Read More …

International Dance, Part 3 of 3—Cancan

Discover the Cancan in the third part of this world dance series, which in its heyday elicited rather too much scandal in the Parisian district of Montmartre. They didn’t call this dance the Cancan (which translates as “scandal”) for nothing. Young ladies, (usually students) would shriek, provocatively throw their legs up high from beneath their Read More …