International students discuss culture at forum

Culture and global awareness were topics for discussion Feb. 18 during the International Student Forum at GCSU.

Eta Sigma Alpha, an honor society on campus, teamed up with the International Club to sponsor the event.

“One of my goals for ESA is to do more events with other Registered Student Organizations,” said president of Eta Sigma Alpha, Caroline Rentz.

Rentz and other ESA members compiled questions for international students to answer. Questions covered topics such as: What is the foreign perspective of the United States? How do foreign students feel about American politics and life? And, what their home countries are like. Questions were opened to the audience for discussion.

“The International Student Forum was a great outlet to get a chance to get acquainted with different nationalities and learn about new cultures,” ETA member Alyssa Gigla said. “It was a very culturally enriching experience.”

Five international students from Bulgaria, Cameroon, Sweden, China and Nigeria answered questions that pertained to their respective countries.

Pontus Ferno, a freshman student from Sweden, explained that the Swedish election cycle is much shorter and it is based on fact.

“We have a very different way of looking at society,” Ferno said. “But we are not communism. We pay more taxes but we also get more back.”

Ferno explained how different Sweden is from the U.S.

“Living in Sweden is like living in a national park,” Ferno said. “It’s very important to create a connection between human and nature.”

Scott Zhang, a sophomore from China, shared his story about how the Chinese media portrays America in a negative way. Upon arrival at the U.S., Zhang found the stereotypes were not true.

“The Chinese media portrayed America as a violent country – lots of gunshots like Virginia Tech – after I come here it is not true,” Zhang said. “My point of view changed after I stayed here.”

Zhang also expressed that the Chinese people are concerned that the U.S sold $7 billion dollars worth of weapons to Taiwan.

Kristina Sanolalova from Bulgaria urged attendees to travel aboard, specifically to her home country.

“Visit, especially if you’re party animals,” Sanolalova said. “(Bulgaria) is really amazing for young people.” Other students also shared their beliefs that American students should travel abroad.

The forum allowed students to learn about other cultures and politics in an engaging way. Foreign students expressed what they thought about America and provided insight for students into their own cultures.

Posted by Rachel Moldovan on Feb 26 2010. Filed under News. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. You can leave a response or trackback to this entry