University of Kansas - Jayhawker Yearbook (Lawrence, KS)

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Page 15 Dang The Binh, one of the University ' s most interesting overseas students, comes to Kansas from Hanoi, Indo-China. This distinguished-look- ing young lawyer spent his first year in the U. S. studying at Yale University in Connecticut. Dang, who is working toward a master ' s degree in eco- nomics, was surprised to find such well-read people here in the Middle West. He had heard that Kansas grew nothing but wheat and staunch isolationists. As a student of economics, Binh was also surprised to find that a midwestern univer- sity should use as fine a text as Dr. Ise ' s Econ. This young citizen of the Viet-Nam Republic ob- served that when he had spent two weeks in this country, he knew all about the United States. In one month, he knew a little less; and now that he has been here a year, he knows nothing. Dang said that he was amazed by the American custom of sending greeting cards. Each occasion seems to have its individual card; it all was so strange to me, he said. Binh will tell you that he was probably most amazed by t he American custom of driving autos just for the fun of it. Of course, he adds, you have such fine cars, it must be fun. Amazed at the close contact between the stu- dents and teachers at the University, (lark-haired Ilse Hofbauer related that in Austria the dean must be addressed as Your Respectability, the Chancellor as Your Magnificence. You never get to see them, she said. They are too high. The twenty-year-old Viennese added that in Austria when the professor enters the lecture room, the students stamp their feet; and if they like his lecture, they increase the tempo of this European applause. A journalism and French major, Ilse worked at the Paris fashion show this summer. She would like to be a professional re- porter and has already had articles published in France. She likes the informality of life at K. U., and found the campus very beautiful Kansas is supposed to be flat, she laughed, but I like it very much.

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Page 14 Football, American food, and root beer amazed Rudi Hofman, Gisela Poch, and Ekke- hard Wicher (left to right), three German ex- change students. Ekkehard, in fact, drank root beer for the first time while he was in Harlem. It tasted like toothpaste, he commented, but I like it. New York proved so fascinating that a ten-minute stroll turned into a three hour tour from 124th Street to 41st. This young architect from Wiesbaden thinks Kansas is much nicer than New York, although he ' d heard that no grass grows in the state, only corn . Both eating and preparing American food interests Gisela Poch, who, living at Miller Hall, takes her turn at cooking and menu planning. Pretty and vivacious, this English major from Dusseldorf enjoys the university advantage of close con- tacts with other students. Rudi Hof- man (left) was impressed by the practical education in journalism afforded by a school newspaper in comparison to the more classical emphasis in Europe. Football games, the band, cheerleaders, and the spirit of the team, were hard to un- derstand at first, but Rudi hasn ' t missed a game.

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Page 16 The sparkling black eves which smile at you from behind the Biology reserve desk at Watson Library belong to Vir- ginie Baroudjian, a striking-looking girl from Cairo, Egypt. Although Armenian, Virginie lived in Cairo until 1946, when she came to the U. S. With an eye toward her citizenship papers, which she will take out in August, 1951, she has been at- tending school in the States, first at Bos- ton University, and then Harvard sum- mer school. This isn ' t the first time she has been in Kansas, however, for she also attended Sterling College for a year. The strangest thing at first was snow, she said. I had never seen any. And then the great waste of food. I think I would like to live in Kansas. In the East they are too interested in business. Here every- one is more friendly. Having graduated from the American University in Ber- rut, Lebanon, Sarni Saliba found the transition to school- ing in the United States an easy one to make. Sami came to Kansas this fall after spending the summer at Butler University in Indianapolis, Indiana. This friendly Leb- anese economist is working on his master ' s degree in pub- lic finance. Sami will tell you that he was pleased when the Institute of International Education informed him that he was to receive a scholarship to Kansas University. During his student days in Lebanon he studied under a Kansas woman who schooled him well in Wheat State lore. Sarni feels that the American and Lebanese people have much in common. He is happy to find this country so packed with friendly people, and has been greatly impressed by the interest that Kansas professors show in their students. When asked about K. U. girls, he slyly re- marked, I believe it is as Oscar Wilde said, ' Woman rep- resents the triumph of matter over mind. ' Married just two days before they left Switzerland, Christian and Gisela Schmid find housekeeping in the Midwest not too different from what it would be in Zu- rich. They are surprised that anyone would let them rent a completely fur- nished house without even locking a cup- board. Christian, who is working toward a Ph.D. in history, attended the Univer- sity of Zurich. Now he is teaching in the German department, as well as attending classes. His pleasant wife, Gisela, is from Schaffhausen, where she taught school. She enjoys their new home and likes the friendliness of Kansans. Everyone al- ways has time to help you, they said. Be sure to say we are so happy to be here.