Reflecting on 23 Years in International Education
Shortly after 9/11, I embarked on a journey I never could have predicted. Really, it all began long before I started working in the Applied English Center in November 2001, in the unit that would become International Short Programs nearly 20 years later. The position involved working with international students on language and cultural experiences, which I knew I could contribute to. My diverse experiences abroad—a summer in France, a year in Korea with the US Army, and over three years teaching English in Taiwan—equipped me to help provide students with enriching experiences. Also, I had earned both a Bachelor's (Journalism, ‘82) and a Master's (Linguistics, ‘94) from KU, so the university and Lawrence already held a special place in my heart, and I was eager to share it with others. I fully expected that they would learn a lot from me and the university.
What I didn’t expect was how much I would learn from our short program participants.
Conversations about differences between the United States and participants’ countries were eye-opening, and observing their interactions with each other and Americans taught me even more about their cultures.
Sometimes, individual experiences with participants were so interesting. In 2012, we had a group from Indonesia in town and they wanted to cook us a meal to show us what Indonesian food was really like. I was very excited and happily took them to the grocery store so they could get everything they needed. At one point, one of them asked me where to get “syrup.” I took him to the pancake syrup aisle, assuming he would want maple syrup. Instead, he chose strawberry. I couldn’t imagine what they would use strawberry syrup for, but I figured I would find out. The evening of the dinner, I discovered just how spicy-hot Indonesian food is. I truly thought my mouth would never recover. I had always heard that milk was the best way to ease the pain from spicy food, but when I asked the group for some milk, they told me that milk wasn’t the best--sugar was. They handed me a drink made from the strawberry syrup and it immediately cut the discomfort. This was not only informative, but it meant that I could eat a lot more of the wonderful food they had made!
Another time, we had a group from the Balkans here over the 2006/2007 New Year. As with many international countries, Christmas was not the biggest holiday of the year for them. Our participants couldn’t understand why everything in town was closed on Christmas Day. For them, the big holiday of the winter season was New Year’s. So, ISP staff prepared and hosted a gathering with them to celebrate New Year’s Eve. We had food and drinks and watched Dick Clark’s New Year’s Rockin’ Eve on TV as the ball dropped at Times Square. We all celebrated until about 2:00 a.m. As I was taking them back to Jayhawker Towers, they begged me to take them down Mass Street first. They had grown to love downtown Lawrence during their time here and they wanted to see what was going on there. I told them that there probably wouldn’t be anyone there, but they just couldn’t believe it. They told me that in their countries, everything was open all night long on New Year’s Eve including everyone’s homes--front doors stood open, and anyone could go in, have a drink, and then continue on. They said that whole towns would be out in the streets, eating and drinking and celebrating together. Of course, when we got downtown it was completely silent. The whole group was disappointed and in disbelief. They finally decided that, in the United States, “what we do for holidays is close everything down.”
Over the years, our programs expanded beyond language and culture to include professional development for international ESL teachers, pre-academic training for individuals who had been awarded Fulbright Scholarships and Humphrey Fellowships as well as discipline specific introductions to KU departments such as Engineering and Education. Each new program brings fresh opportunities to learn from and assist these participants. Even though I’ve been doing this for 23 years, every time I think I’ve seen everything, something new surprises and amazes me.