Orientation Center students view U.S.
By Annie Reid
Although the students in the orientation program for foreign students have been in this country only a very short time, they have some vivid first impressions of America and some observations about Americans in relation to other peoples of the world.
Doris Maravi, a student from Lima, Peru, will study chemistry at KU. Miss Maravi was surprised, when she attended a Catholic mass, at the high percentage of men who took communion. She had visited the U.S. in 1963 and stayed for a month and a half with a farmily in Cincinnati, and was surprised by the closeness of family life. She had previously thought the members of an American family would "go their own way."
MISS MARAVI was impressed by the organization in the orientation program and in American life. In her own country, she said, "we need organization . . . an advisor for each student." She said that the students from her country in this program "do not represent our country really" because, having attended the universities, they are "above average." Programs such as Operation Amigo, an exchange student program, are "a good idea," Miss Maravi said, because "people have
an opportunity to know the life" in another country.
One student from Okinawa said, "America is very large, spacious I have realized why the American people haven't realized the Okinawan people's feeling for land." When the American army wants to expand its base at Okinawa, the small amount of land owned by the farmers must be taken. "The land is life for the farmers. They have no substitute. The U.S. Army pays money . . . a very small amount that does not last for a long period."
Americans are cutting a bad image in Okinawa in other ways. "Give me liberty or give me death.' That's the spirit of America. I don't think there is much of that spirit in America."
pertaining to the idea that America is "a country of uniformity, a standardized country," one student said that "one side looks uniform; the other side looks very diverse." There is "peaceful coexistence" between the two sides of America. For instance, one can see the same kind of doors all over the country. An example of diversity noted by the students was the state governments. Each state has its own government and constitution. All the school systems of the U.S. are different.
Photos by Taylor Huebner
SWING YOUR PARTNER! Orientation Center students enjoyed a part of Americana recently when they participated in an old fashioned square dance sponsored by the Center. The dance is just one part of the round of social activities the students enjoy during the summer.