Western Kentucky University - Talisman Yearbook (Bowling Green, KY)

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et et ee tion in Hong Kong is good and cheap.” In reference to job opportunities, Karen said, ‘It is hard to get a job there because so many people need them.” Even in fac- tories where there is so much mass produc- tion of goods, a decent job is hard to secure. Karen said she liked Hong Kong mainly because it’s close to the ocean and moun- tains and offers a variety of scenery. Patrick Ndoma was in Nigeria deciding what he wanted to do with his life when a letter came from a friend who was going to school in the United States, at a place called Bowling Green, Ky. Patrick’s friend told him about Western and its advantages and sent Patrick a book showing various scenes from Kentucky. He said he was very impressed with the school’s campus and decided it had the right qualifications in economics, the field he is studying. Patrick, a senior, will graduate in May. After graduation he intends to stay on to at- tend graduate school at Western. After completion of his graduate work, Patrick plans to go into governmental work. “It is my high hope and my high dream to be able to work with the (Nigerian) govern- ment,” said Patrick. The diplomatic corp is where his “high dream” lies. “Someday | would like to be able to represent my government,” he said. If he succeeds, he would like to go to either the United States, West Germany, Great Britain or France. Does he regret coming to Western? “No, | really don’t have anything to re- gret,” said Patrick. “'! find something new to like every day. | have met many very wonder- ful people and Christians to assist me.” Even if Patrick doesn’t succeed, he will - be in there trying. His favorite philosophy is: “People who never make mistakes are those who never do anything.” “| love fried chicken,” said Zaibunnisa Begum when she was asked what she liked the most about the United States. Zaibunnisa is a sophomore from South India and she is working for an associate Patrick Ndoma Zaibunnisa Begum degree in Library Science. She became interested in attending Western when she visited her brother (Dr. Ahmed) last year. “The people at Western make the campus more beautiful,” said Zaibunnisa. “They are so peace loving and friendly.” When Zaibunnisa first came to the United States, she was fascinated by television. “The only place we have television in India is in large cities,” said Zaibunnisa, “And only the rich people have refrigerators. Watching television is like sitting in a movie theatre,” she added. Zaibunnisa said she likes the “Six Million Dollar Man” because she thinks he is attract- ive, and her favorite soap opera is “All My Children.” Zaibunnisa finds college life very different from the colleges in India. In India, a student studies three courses and he graduates in three years. Classes are different also be- cause in India students do not have contact with instructors. Zaibunnisa said she thinks most of her classes are interesting. According to Zaibunnisa, the girls who live in dorms or “hostels” are not allowed to leave their rooms after 6:30 p.m., and dating is unheard of. “Attendance is taken daily in the dorms,” said Zaibunnisa. If she decides to stay in the United States after graduation, Zaibunnisa said her brother will choose the man she will marry. “When | first came to Western, | heard the girls talk about their boyfriends and | couldn't under- stand what they meant by the word boy- friend,” said Zaibunnisa. ‘| thought they were supposed to marry their boyfriends; but, my girlfriends in the dorm told me | was wrong,” : she added. “| like just about everything in the United States,” she said. “I think it’s fun to walk in the snow, | like pizza and hamburgers, the freedom, and the education system; but, | don't like hot dogs — no, | don't like hot dogs.” “The French students couldn't believe that we have milk or Coca-Cola with a meal,”’ said David Bond, who spent the past year studying in France as a part of WKU’s ex- change program. “| guess | went because it was something different and it would be fun to do,” he said. Studying and living at the University of Paul Valery in Montpelier, France, proved to be different for this American. The campus resembled the one in Bowling Green, but the residences were separated from the campus and belonged to a complex of dormitories. Most students lived off- campus. “Only the poorer students could live in the complex because it was cheap,” said the Virginia native. “I lived in the com- plex because they allowed the exchange students to live there too,” said the Vir- ginia native. “We had maid service in the dorms and they cleaned every other day,” explained Bond. Other benefits of dormitory life in France included open visitation, no restric- tion on liquor and private rooms for every- one. ‘There were many Ssuitcasers, too. It was deserted on weekends just like here,” said the senior. “In general, the French dress much nicer than we do,” he explained, ‘and they were always conscious of how they looked; much more than we are.” The manners of the French when wanting to eat were less than their concern of how they looked, according to David. “At meal time, they wouldn't line up but would push a lot until they were inside eating. A person trying to eat at any of the cafeterias would get smashed in the turmoil.’ David said it was fun at times to be in the “big squeeze.” He said he did miss having hamburgers. “We registered for classes at the begin- ning of the year and paid 100 francs (about $20), said David. The only other expenses for the exchange student involved paying for books, room and board. “The normal class met three hours a week, two hours a day and one hour on another day,” he explained. Not all classes, however, meet this often. Some only met one and a half hours a week. The size of classes, ac- cording to David, ranged from small English classes of 18 to 45, to large sociology class- es of 150 to 175. ‘The classes were hard because the professors treated us (exchange students) just like French students,’ said David. “The French think all Americans are rich, have huge cars, and are imperialistic pigs,” he said. Watergate really caused some prob- lems in the United States, but in France they believed it was only a scandal. The French television had something just about every night on it. “At Georges Pompidou’s funeral,’ said David, ‘the television cameras kept showing Nixon instead of the funeral proceedings.” He explained that he couldn't find out too much from the French because of their reservations toward the ‘‘stereo- typed” American. “People could understand me pretty much, but the English taught to the French wasn't the informal type of English taught in the United States,” he said. Commenting further, David said he felt accepted on cam- pus, but only as an exchange student. The school, food, life-style and country

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Becky Killebrew Becky ’s home in Thailand was very simi- lar to ones in the United States, because the contractor had studied in the states. Other similarities were not great, however, because Thailand's customs, food, religion, habits and other things were extremely different. Becky said she didn't care for the year- round 90-100 degree temperatures. She said she recalls waking up one Christmas morning, going downstairs and seeing peo- ple walking around outside with light clothes on. “We just closed the curtains and pretended it was cold out,” said Becky. It is a custom in Thailand that women never wear shorts. For the female sex, it is either pants or dresses. “A few brave people did, but | never tried it,” she commented. Becky had to become accustomed to be- ing the center of attention. “The way the Thai's stared at Americans was kind of strange at first. They thought we were all beautiful,” said Becky. “While out on the streets the Thai people would come up and touch me because of my light hair and skin.” Shopping in Thailand is an art that an American must gain experience in. Becky said she had to bargain with storekeepers, because they expected it and enjoyed doing it. Everything was cheap and of such good quality that Becky said, “We could hardly resist buying and buying and buying,’ Com- menting on the Thailand market places, her father would say, “I’m going broke trying to save money.” The Thai's and the Americans in that city got along very well together, according to Becky. She said that just as Americans ques- tion some of their habits and customs, they wonder about some of ours. For instance, the Thai's generally think Americans must be crazy for wanting to get a suntan. Entertainment and freetime activities gained much attention in Thailand. “We shopped, traveled, went to the movies and read, in that order,’ Becky commented. “Everyone went to the movies because there were beautiful and elaborate theatres. Many up-to-date American movies were aired there, but some were edited heavily. Anything having to do with Christianity was omitted,” she said. ” Becky said she is glad she got to make the trip. “It was probably a once in a lifetime ‘opportunity and a good experience, but | was ready to leave. I’m glad to be home.” She said she’s much more appreciative now of seasons, of unbottled water, of peo- ple and of the government. With the large number of foreign students who come to Western from countries such as Hong Kong, England, Vietnam, France and other countries in Europe and Asia, it is rather unusual to find a student from Iceland. Saemundur Gudmundsson, however, is a native of Iceland; but, until he graduates, Bowling Green will be his home. “|! confused my family when | visited them at Christmas,” said Saemundur, “by saying | was going home to Bowling Green, but that’s the way | feel about it.” Saemundur learned about Western from a commissioner of education in Iceland who graduated from George Peabody College in Nashville. The commissioner said Western was the best place he knew for social studies, which is the subject that interests Sae- mundur. Saemundur was a principal for 18 years in an elementary and secondary school in Iceland, and was going back to England to study English and literature before he de- cided to come to Western. He said he is studying social work, mostly as it related to education. The government in Iceland is establishing eight regional school districts within the country and Sae- mundur said he has a job waiting for him similar to a superintendent when he gets his degree. Saemundur speaks English well and said he has little trouble with teachers and class- Saemundur Gudmumdsson es. In fact, he really has no complaints ex- cept for the middle-of-the-night wrong num- bers, which often wake him from a sound sleep. One reason Saemundur may feel at home here is the fact that, “We are more close to American culture than European culture.” “It is strange,” said Saemundur. “| lived close to the sea in Iceland and here | don't live close to the sea, but | don’t miss it. There is something very warm about your country.” While most American students who have a home address of Typical Town, America, Karen Smith’s address is 12 York Road, Kowloon, Hong Kong. Karen moved to Hong Kong with her family just before her junior year in high school. She had lived there previously while in elementary and junior high school. Karen said more emphasis is put on ed- ducation in Hong Kong than in America. “A Karen Smith person can't really choose his own subjects there,” she said. “It is decided for him.” According to Karen, Hong Kong schools teach a diversified area of subjects and “study is not limited to one area as in the United States.” “People are very friendly in Hong Kong and have respect for their families,” said Karen. She also said people look down on Ame ricans for taking things for granted, even though most of them dream of coming to America. “The people try to copy Ameri- can ways,’ said Karen. Since there is such a great population crowded into a limited amount of space, pub- lic transportation is the main method of travel in Hong Kong. “The people are more independent, too,” said Karen. This difference in travel changes dating life somewhat, too, according to Karen. She said one cannot get a driver's license until he is 18 years old. Despite the traffic’s ten- » dency to be really terrible, public transporta- Zl] Foreign Students

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David Bond were all new to David but he said he would gladly endure the French differences if he could go back. Through making adjustments and com- parisons between her native Austria and the United States, Christina Schon Wood said she developed likes and dislikes about the society in which she is living. She said she has also developed an empathy for other foreign students and the problems they encounter. “| enjoy the laissez-faire feeling,” she said, “Americans are the most friendly people of anywhere.” Christina described Ameri- cans as very warm and not hesitant about addressing a foreign person, noting that manners here are relaxed, while manners in Austria are connected to old tradition. Small differences that Christina noticed included the mannerism of saying “excuse me” in America. “At home nobody notices when a person has to leave the room or sneeze, and that’s a politeness because he’s embarrassed anyway,’ said Christina. Perhaps what Christina misses most about Austria aside from her family is the wide variety of foods, especially highly spiced ones. “When | first came over here, | wrote home to my parents that food here is like in the filling station — regular for hot dogs and hamburgers and super for steak.” The English major has definite opinions about the differences in family lifestyles that she has noticed in the two countries. Chris- tina considers “‘too much free time’ as one of the ‘‘minuses” of the freer American soci- ety. She said she believes this is ‘where the drug problem takes the overhead.” ‘’Kids have too much free time away from home and take everything on good faith and then get stuck,” said Christina. Reviewing her own experiences made Christina more aware that foreign students often have difficulty in knowing how to be- have and often embarrass themselves. One difficulty is in finding their way to class- rooms. She said she remembers her first se- mester at Western when she stayed in a graduate class for two weeks until the teacher informed her that she was in the wrong classroom. The reason for her mis- take was that 7’s and 1’s are written dif- ferently in Austria. Although Christina said she had never been mistreated, she added that dark- skinned foreign men had more difficulties if they didn’t speak the language very well. “Girls are a symbol of helplessness,” said Christina. She said that in classrooms it is almost impossible to give a fair grade to a foreign student because their difficulty with the language limits their vocabulary for express- ing their knowledge. ‘Teachers try to be fair to everyone, but it’s not really fair to the foreign students,” said Christina. She be- lieves teachers should give more oral tests, to foreign student s. Christina also was surprised to find that instructors treat students as friends in the United States. “In Austria, students would never dare to address a teacher unless in the classroom or office,” said Christina. The first time Richard Hopkins had ever been away from home for more than two days was when he left Australia and came to Western. “| came to Western to run track,” said Richard, “and because the cli- mate is not extreme.” Richard said he was prepared for what Western would be like from what a track re- cruiter had told him. He said, however, that he didn’t know much about America. ‘| thought of Kentucky as a place of race riots, bourbon and race horses,” said Richard. Describing some of the similarities and differences between the United States and Australia, Richard said the countryside is very similar, but added that snow was a new experience. Never seeing snow before, he was rather disappointed when it did come. “It is cold and wet and one snow is just like another,” he said. Florida weather was a little more to his liking. Attending a track meet in the Southern State, Richard said,” Everybody stayed in a i Ay ; Christina Schon Wood massive hotel, wore Bermuda shorts and got sunburned.” While he said he believes the United States as a whole is ahead of Australia, Richard added that he thinks Kentucky is five or six years behind the times. He used the University’s dorm policy as an example of this “backwardness.” “| don't like the policy of requiring fresh- men and sophomores to live on campus,” said Richard. “It’s a lot cheaper if 15 people share an apartment.” He said in Australia guys can have girls in their room and play record players as loud as they want. The friendliness of all the people impress- ed me very much,” said Richard. He men- tioned the time that a girl and her parents invited him to spend Thanksgiving with them when they heard he would not have anywhere else to go. “Everyone is smiling all the time,” said Richard, “‘but once in a while, | know some- body has got to be false.”’ Richard Hopkins