The Online Reflector

The University of Indianapolis international student population has increased, according to Director of Admissions Ron Wilks.

Wilks said that UIndy strives to achieve diversity through importing students from their international satellite campuses in Greece and in China, and through encouraging students to study abroad.

“UIndy wants to bring the world to the students who cannot travel abroad,” Wilks said.

With a small slice of the world at UIndy, students can gain perspective on other cultures.

Sophomore Will Schnabel, a New Hall resident assistant, thinks students should realize that they are part of a larger picture and see that diversity should be celebrated.

Recently, Schnabel hosted a diversity dinner for his floor where the international students cooked native foods including pigs’ feet, sticky rice and Israeli dishes.

“I hosted it [the dinner] because diversity should be addressed as soon as possible, and we should discuss how and why we are different,” Schnabel said. “I wanted to show through food what is different about us.”

Schnabel said he was “almost blown away” by how much the students enjoyed and learned from the dinner. They learned not only that pigs’ feet is a very sweet meat, but also the value of diversity.

“We saw that people can do things differently, and that we are all in this together,” Schnabel said.

Even though the international students come from different cultures, they have several things in common, such as craving their native foods.

“The Chinese food served here in America is not real Chinese food. We like to cook our own food,” said Dalu Xu, a senior from China.

Senior Michael Shi, from China, also noticed a culinary difference between American and Chinese cuisines.

“The Chinese and American food served here are very different. The cheese is foreign to me because I never tasted something like it before,” Shi said. “My favorite food here are the chicken nuggets. The chicken nuggets are close to Chinese cuisine.”

Graduate student Rujuta Agashe, a vegetarian from India, was surprised by the amount of meat served and by how bland American food is in comparison to spicy Indian cuisine.

However, sophomore Felix Baum, who is from Germany, was surprised to see that Americans don’t eat their meals at the dinner table.

“I was surprised that families ate fast food for dinner in front of the TV instead of bread at the table,” Baum said.

Another thing students missed from their home countries was transportation.

Coming across an ocean, students couldn’t bring cars, so for the most part they felt restricted staying on campus because of the city’s limited transportation options.

“Many people used public transportation or walked because everything was so much closer together in Hungary,” said Anita Toth, an M.B.A. student from Hungary. “There is so much open space in America.”

Although they are from different corners of the earth, the students said that Americans are much more polite than people back home.

“The culture here is more laid back; you feel comfortable asking directions because people are so informal,” Toth said. “In Hungary, it feels like you are bothering them and it feels awkward.”

Agashe observed that Americans smile and laugh a lot. She thought it was odd at first but then discovered it was just part of the laid back culture.

Baum suggested that some aspects of American culture are a little too laid back. In America, time is valued less. Arriving fashionably late is acceptable.

“In Germany, if a train is supposed to arrive at 10, it is there at 9:58, not at 10. But here in America, things are less punctual.”

The format of classrooms is also different from what students are used to.

“In America, there are more discussions in the classroom. In China, some professors just give you facts and it’s much more structured and stressful,” said Ju Xu, a junior from China.

The international students seemed to like the structure of campus and Indianapolis area events.

Agashe likes to attend the weekly “Hollywood movies” and is looking forward to the Indian festival downtown later this year.

Ju Xu enjoys the on-campus “rock ‘n’ roll” concerts but wishes they featured more country music.

Many of the international students brought things from home to help them remember family, friends or a significant other.

They brought things such as pictures, chopsticks, spices, statues of gods and chocolate. Shi said that he brought paintings and souvenirs.

“I brought [my paintings and souvenirs] because they were given as going away gifts and farewell presents from family and friends. Also, I brought these paintings so I could make my house [in America] feel more like my house [in China],” Shi said.

Although students come from a variety of backgrounds and cultures, together they help bring diversity to UIndy.