Opinion THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN
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WEDNESDAY, JUNE 16, 2010
WWW.KANSAN.COM
PAGE 8
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Hope KU is left out of conference musical chairs. Kansas is the most ignorant place on earth.
I've decided to start naming all of my pets after gay republicans.
I don't like the idea of getting drunk on a work night, but since I work 7 days a week sacrifices must be made!
Biq 12, we will miss you
99 bottles of beer on the wall,
99 bottles of beer, take one
down pass it around, 98 bottles
of beer on the wall...
So, a mom of a freshman here for student orientation got hit by a bike today on campus. what a great way to say, "Welcome to KU."
I hate the fact that I am still in love with her after a year and a half.
What should I have engraved on my iPod?
Steal me.
I miss you, Lawrence.
HUMOR
Suburban 'staycation' replaces pricey travel
My older brother is in South Africa for the World Cup. My little brother is about to go to the Dominican Republic. One of my friends is headed to Spain next week, and another just got back from China.
So you might think I'd be a little bit jealous that I will spend 100 percent of my summer living in my parents' house in Kansas. Nonsense. An empty bank account is no reason to limit oneself to the boring confines of suburbia for a whole summer. There are plenty of ways I've found to have an international experience
Stuff KU Students Like
BY JOEL PETTERSON
jpetterson@kansan.com
with a part-time, minimum wage budget.
For example, itid be great to visit an authentic South American pueblo (I'm a Spanish major, don't worry
about it...), but it's also expensive. But put on a sombrero, make a quick Taco Bell run, and flip on a Telemundo soap opera and it'll feel like a fiesta in your own living room.
While Kansas might be short on exotic natural destinations, a little creativity can go a long way. Grab a couple of blow-up rafts from the kids section of any department store and head to any of Kansas' many creeks during an intense Midwest thunderstorm. After about 20 minutes it'll feel just like the Amazon rainforest during monsoon season, at least until the clouds clear up and you
start hearing little girls ringing their bicycle bells just beyond the trees (which is a total buzzkill).
Even your own bedroom can be turned into an expensive vacation. Just set the air conditioning about 85 degrees like my parents insist on doing, set up a mosquito net above your bed,and every morning feels like waking up in a hut somewhere along the equator. Thanks, mom.
Petterson is a junior from Prairie Village majoring in journalism and Spanish.
TRAVEL
Studying abroad develops self-confidence
What better place start things off than in Bonn, Germany; headquarters of Deutsche Welle, Germany's international broadcasters, and my home for nearly five months last spring.
By the time this column is published, I will hopefully be recovered from jet lag and have partially regained my yearlong-dormant German skills. I'll have retraced my favorite path along the Rhine River and have made my way to James Joyce, a lively Irish pub in Bonn's city center.
Nostalgic sentiments aside — I'll save the rest for my blog — my return to Bonn also reminds me of the indispensable experience I gained from studying abroad here last year.
To the advantage of KU students, study abroad ranks high among the University's priorities. The University ranks 11th nationally in study abroad participation, according to a report by The Institute of International Education.
Foreign Telegraph
BY MICHAEL HOLTZ mholtz@kansan.com
Over 25 percent of KU undergraduates have completed study abroad programs. A wide variety of programs and readily available financial aid makes it possible for many students.
For an aspiring foreign correspondent such as myself, the benefits of studying abroad seem obvious. I returned to Lawrence with improved language skills, months of travel experience and a fresh global perspective.
Yet participation in a study abroad program provides benefits outside of academic and career development. A study published in 2004 found that 96 percent of students who had studied
abroad noticed an increase in self-confidence. Ninety-seven percent of those surveyed said studying abroad served as a catalyst for increased maturity.
I couldn't agree more. There are few experiences I've had as liberating — and overwhelming — as when I stepped off the plane at Frankfurt International Airport last March. Allow me to explain.
With the exception of driving between Topeka and Lawrence, I had never traveled by myself until my transcontinental flight from Kansas City to Frankfurt. I landed in Germany feeling tired, anxious and alone.
After some initial confusion at the train station in Frankfurt, I was on a two-hour train ride to Bonn. I arrived with a backpack—the airline had lost my luggage and it wouldn't arrive for another week—and the address of the Bonn University's International Club where I was to check in.
I filled out the paperwork, picked
up some handouts, and received my housing assignment. Once I was finished, a driver dropped me off at my apartment. After 24 hours of constant traveling, I had finally made it. In a sense, I was home.
I matured quickly that first day. The sudden realization of being 4500 miles from home in an unfamiliar country without friends or family would have the same effect on anyone.
I also noticed an immediate rise in my self-confidence. Speaking a language I only partially knew with people I had never met required it. The language-learning experience was often frustrating and sometimes even embarrassing.
In the end it was all part of the study abroad experience, the same one that allowed me to return to Bonn as mature and confident as ever.
— Kansan columnist Michael Holtz will contribute weekly columns from his European travels.
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