THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1994, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Thursday, September 29, 1994 TAG: 9409270152
SECTION: NORFOLK COMPASS PAGE: 04 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY JOAN C. STANUS, STAFF WRITER
LENGTH: Medium: 66 lines
When Lisette Cumberland found out this summer she was going to be rooming with a woman from Vietnam during her freshman year at Old Dominion University, she worried.
``I thought she might hold some hostility against me because of what happened in her country,'' said the 18-year-old accounting major from Guantanamo Bay, Cuba. ``But that never happened. We got along great.''
William Spicer was excited about getting a roommate from Italy. He'd grown up with an Italian friend and already knew a bit about the culture. The biggest obstacle he and roommate Stefano Pisu had to iron out when they moved in together in ODU's Rogers Hall East last month was whether the light stayed on while they slept.
Roommates next door, Jim Kaiser and Masaro Tensaka, however, are still grappling with the one major stumbling block between them - communication.
``It's like hard to understand him,'' said Kaiser, a 17-year-old freshman from Winchester, Va.
Tensaka, who hails from a small Japanese town near Tokyo, smiles, agreeing that communication between the two is sometimes difficult. In his halting English, Tensaka explains he moved into the dorm so that he could learn.
``I want to study American culture. I know Japanese culture,'' the 18-year-old political science major said. ``I don't want to stay with same culture when I come here. I want to know American.''
As residents on ODU's new International Hall, all of these students agree that living with someone from a different country is just like living with anyone else - sometimes it works out; sometimes it doesn't. Some problems you can deal with; others you can't.
Stereotypes, language problems and cultural differences don't have to get in the way of friendships and harmonious living, they say.
``Just like with any roommate, it depends on whether you can get along with them or not,'' said 18-year-old Antonio Bassett, a civil engineering major from the Bahamas.
ODU established the experiment in international living this year to foster more cultural understanding within the university and the community, explained Jane Hirsch, the hall coordinator. American students were paired with students from such countries as Bangladesh, Egypt, Germany, Jamaica, Lebanon, the Ukraine and Zimbabwe. In all, 84 students from 18 nations live on the International Hall on the third floor of Rogers Hall East.
Later this semester, residents will host public political forums, films, dances, picnics and other cross-cultural programming in their meeting rooms.
So far, residents say that their hall already rocks each night with a variety of topical discussions.
``When you say you're from the International Hall, people are envious, because it's the most alive floor,'' said Pisu, a 26-year-old sociology major.
Added his roommate, William Spicer: ``There's always something to talk about up here . . . because we all come from such different backgrounds. We have great conversations out in this hall.'' ILLUSTRATION: Staff photo by JIM WALKER
William Spicer of Portsmouth, left, and Stefano Pisu from Italy have
had few problems since they began sharing a room on International
Hall.
by CNB