16C HOMECOMING
THE UNIVERSITY DAIRY KANSAN THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 1, 2007
PARADE
Filling the boulevard with Jayhawk spirit
Student organizations compete for parade title
BY KATHERINE LESLIE
editor@kansan.com
Every year thousands of students, alumni and Kansas fans line Jayhawk Boulevard to watch the Homecoming Parade. The parade
will begin at 9:30 a.m. at the Kansas Union and follow Jayhawk Boulevard to the Chi Omega fountain. The parade will last 30 to 45 minutes.
Student life and greek organizations compete in the parade using
"There will be plenty of variety to this year's parade, ranging from KU organizational floats and banners,to a large, floating Chipotle burrito."
floats, decorated vehicles and banners.
DAVID WILCOX Parade co-chairman
ber of points for first, second and third place. The points are based on the difficulty of creating the floats and banners. Moving parts floats receive 200, 175 and 150 points for first, second and third place, respectively. Thirty-five points are awarded for participation;
nonmoving parts floats receive 175, 150,
and 125 points with 30 points for participation;
and decorated vehicles and banners receive 100,
75 and 50 points with 25 points for participation.
Banners are worth 20 points.
Groups can participate in one of four categories to earn points; floats with moving parts, floats with nonmoving parts, decorated vehicles and banners. First, second and third places and honorable mentions will be awarded in each division.
In addition to participation points, each division alls a num-
General guide-
lines participants must follow during the parade include sticking to the Jayhawk Nation theme and having escape hatches on the moving parts floats in case of fire. Parade cochairwoman Alyson Rodee, Wichita junior, said that participants could not endanger small children with vehicles or candy.
This year's parade will feature the Marching Jayhawks and the
Marching Cobras, a world-famous Kansas City, Mo., drill team. The Rock Chalk dancers will also perform. The Grand Marshall for this year's parade is Kansas Governor Kathleen Sebelius, a University of Kansas alumni.
"There will be plenty of variety to this year's parade, ranging from KU organizational floats and banners, to a large, floating Chipotle burrito," said parade co-chairman David Wilcox, Manhattan sophomore.
Student life and greek organizations compete in the parade using floats, decorated vehicles and banners.
Brittani
Johnson, Denver senior, described her sorority's plans for their float.
"For this year's theme, we're having a jayawk on a throne with a crown on his head, with stalks of corn as his subjects," she said.
Johnson said her sorority had placed well during her time at the University and she expected the same results at this year's parade.
"We've been in the top three ever since I was a freshman," she said. "We got second place last year. We're hoping for another victory this year."
JAYPLAY = 11.01.2007
Diji Nwaneri came to the United States when he was 15 years old. When Nwaneri, Abuja, Nigeria junior, went to his junior high school for the first time, one of his classmates asked him where he came from. He answered without hesitation.
Unfortunately, the classmate didn't know of a country called Nigeria. Nwaneri repeated Nigeria several times, and then finally gave up. He finally just said, "I'm from Africa." The classmate smiled and said, "No, you are living."
After that day, Nwaneri felt embarrassed whenever someone asked him where he was from. A few years later, even after he had
"No you aren't, because you're wearing clothes!"
"Why? I'm really from Africa," Nwaneri answered,confused.
"I'm from Nigeria."
These days, people travel to other countries for many reasons: to travel, study abroad, take business trips or to have an unforgettable honeymoon. Culture shock could ruin your new adventure, but don't be scared; it is easily conquered as long as you know some basic tips. Here are six tips provided by various experts to help you overcome culture shock.
This is a typical example of culture shock. Generally speaking, culture shock occurs when someone moves from a familiar environment, says Kathy Mulnazzi director of Small World, a nonprofit organization in Lawrence that helps international women learn English and American customs.
made many American friends, he says he was frustrated by everything around him.
1. Don't look back once you've jumped
The first step to overcoming culture shock is to have a firm
mind and clear goals. When you leave your familiar environment, there is a natural tendency to look back if you have a hard time adjusting, Mulinazzi says. Being in a different country can be scary at times, and it's tempting to wonder what you were thinking when you decided to go in the first place.
"If you discipline yourself to see what happens to you as an opportunity to learn and grow, even the so-called bad experiences turn out not to be. You actually do learn and grow," says Ellen Fields, co-owner of www.yucatanliving.com. A web site she and her husband developed to help immigrants adjust to the culture of the Yucatan region of
TYPICAL CULTURE SHOCK
MODEL:
Step 2: The Distress Stage
Nothing you’re experiencing feels new anymore. You feel torn between your old and new culture. You also realize that familiar things are not easily accessible.
Step 1: The Honeymoon Stage You are willing to take any adventure and face the obstacles. Everything around you seems curious and exciting.
Step 2: The Distress Stage
Step 3: Re-integration Stage
You have a hard time accepting cultural differences. During this stage, you start to build up stereotypes about the host country and start to idealize life "back home." You become angry at everything around you including
food, language and culture. It is often the case that you reject those as inferior.
It takes time to reach this stage, but once you've reached it, you have yourself a new home! You feel comfortable and confident to be there and able to appreciate both the differences and similarities of your new culture.
Step 4: Autonomv Stage
This is the eye-opening stage. You start to accept your fate and become yourself again. You start to look at both sides and accept the differences. You become more confident and no longer feel isolated. You start to appreciate where you are.
Source: http://moving.about.com/od/internationalmoves/a/culture_short.htm
Step 5: Independence Stage
If you go into the experience determined to adjust, you are already halfway to conquering your new world.
2. Practice and improve your language skills
The ability to communicate with native people plays a huge role in your success in adjusting to a new culture, Mulinazzi says. Even a talkative person is silenced if he doesn't know the language. You suddenly become speechless, and lose your self-esteem, making it easy for others to think that you are either stupid or shy. This dramatic change of personality can often lead to depression.
You also shouldn't be overconfident about coping with the language when you get to your destination. If you think, "I will pick up the language when I go there," or "People will understand me even if my French is bad," you are likely to be disappointed when you find out people might not be as patient as you anticipated. Speaking a foreign language in front of native speakers is nerve-racking. Sunyau Lin, graduate student from Shanghai, China, says she felt nervous when she tried to speak English in front of native speakers. Whenever she
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