When we have international students or scholars, we like to do what we call “slice of life” activities. That is to say, we try to include them in activities we are already doing doing, so that that can see Americans “in action — slices of American life.
For example, because we like soccer, this year we took our visiting scholar to the UVa soccer games (luckily, he loves soccer, too). We had a lot of fun at the games, trying to exchange information on what the English names vs the Chinese names for various positions and plays: “Goal keeper,” ” penalty kick, ” “offsides,” etc. The love of a game like soccer translates across cultures extremely well.
We have also had fun taking our Chinese scholar to political events. I want to make clear that we are not trying to “convert” him to anything, in any way. We found that he was interested in the political process, and has enjoyed following the Presidential campaigns. He asked me “what is a Primary and what is a Caucus?” I find that his observations, made from outside our process, are very interesting, and make us think more carefully about issues as we try to answer his questions.
n Super Tuesday, I took our scholar, to a Primary watching party. Just by serendipity, we also met another scholar who had just arrived from England and was staying at the International House. We invited him to come along, too. It was quite a pleasure to listen to our Chinese scholar and our new English friend give their insights on the American political process!
Nancy Damon
