 |
  |
|
Our conversation began with me firing question after question, avoiding the silence awkward in any culture. What city are you from? Do you have brothers and sisters? What are you studying? Can you pass the napkins? But it was not until we started talking baseball that Chulwoo’s eyes lit up. “Do you know BK?” I knew who BK (Byung-Hyun Kim) was because he had nearly lost the 2001 World Series not once, not twice, but three times for the Diamondbacks, giving up a handful of home runs to Yankee batters. “Sure I do. The great Korean relief pitcher, right?” We talked baseball while finishing the world’s messiest tacos. The second time we met, Chulwoo treated me to fish tacos. The chitchat started with me asking how his classes were going, him answering fine, and then switching gears quickly, asking if I saw Chan Ho Park pitch the night before on TV. Baseball. We talked about baseball. We talked about the differences between Korean and American baseball; how in Korea, fans arrive early and stay late; how in Korea they serve rice and kimchi at the ballpark; and how in Korea they have “very pretty cheerleaders at the games.” Jeanie Hartranft, instructor in APU’s American Language and Culture Institute (ALCI), saw an unhealthy pattern developing in the international students. She would assign them homework requiring her English as a Second Language (ESL) students to converse with American students. Hartranft was puzzled when the assignments came back unfinished. She asked her students what the problem was. “I found that communication between internationals and domestics was not occurring naturally, nor was it easy,” said Hartranft. “After finding that the only program on campus that encouraged interaction between the two groups had only eight American students signed up, I decided that another approach had to be taken.” Enter the A.I.M. Program. The American International Mentoring Program matches international students with university students, faculty, and staff. These small groups provide internationals opportunities to interact with American students; opening up doors to the new culture in which they are submerged, while educating the American partner with a lesson in internationalization. |
A.I.M. Program participants, both international and American, reap benefits, a give-and-take opportunity to be mentored in the understanding of another culture. My relationship with Chulwoo has deepened my perspective of an Eastern culture very different from my own. He practices his English while I learn the art of articulating obscure Americanism (e.g., holy-mackerel and tomāto-tomäto). He teaches me what it is like to be a believer in Korea; I tell him the American take on 9-11. “My A.I.M. partner is like a sister,” said Elissa Wilson ’02. “She has been a true friend, who has taught me so much about generous giving. I have learned about the Chinese culture: how they value family and eating together, as well as their work ethic and generosity.” |
Left: Conversation over fish
