Sometime in the late Jurassic Period (~150 million years ago), I started this column, and over the millennia I have taken it upon myself to be a self-acclaimed ambassador for the international student community at Wichita State.

While I have enjoyed writing every single one of these columns, this week I thought I’d let my readers help me out. So I asked people who are originally from the U.S. about their experiences with international students: what intrigued them, what puzzled them and what they learned.

It’s going to take more than one column to do justice to the topic, and I hope you’ll stick with me through the journey. WSU is a global playground and I must say the campus provides multitudes of opportunities for cross-cultural interaction.

“I knew a guy from Sri Lanka when I was living in the dorms,” Abram Howell, a WSU graduate said. “Being who I am, I was really fascinated by his religion.”

Howell wished he had had more time to discuss Hinduism with his roommate, but at times, discussing movies and girls took priority over religious discussions. And for some of the traditional students, even something as simple (or not) as discussing girls could get complicated due to the cultural barriers.

Jen Bookhout, a communication graduate from WSU, said she often faced difficulty communicating with her British friend despite (questionably) speaking the same language.

“For instance, when it comes to discussing dating and guys we both think so differently that we spend more time trying to understand each other than actually getting to the bottom of anything,” Bookhout said, laughing.

Bookhout said she has always been intrigued by people in general, and when she meets international students, she has many questions she’d like to ask of them. She often avoids asking the questions to avoid seeming rude or ignorant.

Dealing with preconceived cultural notions is one of the underlying themes of cultural misunderstanding.

She said she reads about places around the world, giving her just enough knowledge to get things wrong. While a freshman at WSU, she volunteered at the Intensive English Learning Center as a conversation leader. She described the experience as intimidating, but fun.

She encountered awkward silences when she used colloquial phrases local to the U.S., and often had to spell out what she meant. She added that most international students she encountered were very open and friendly.

“I tend to think that everyone is weird in their own way. I mean, I am one of the weirdest people I know,” she laughed. “So, strange or different cultural habits don’t stand out that much to me.”