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International Profile: Abdalsalam Almzayyen from Saudi Arabia
International Excursion: Korea with Professor Cindy Wynne
International Education Week Events
Local Cultural Events
What in the World: International Education at NRCC
1. International Profile: Abdalsalam Almzayyen from Saudi Arabia
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What food / drink from your country do you miss most? Chicken Shawarma, I
have tried it in 4 states and I couldn’t find one that’s remotely close to the
taste of the original one.
What is your favorite thing to do in your country? Go out with friends / Ride
Motorcycles on beach
What is your favorite place in your country? Beach Homes at the Red Sea
What was most difficult for you when you came here? Getting used to the
different way of life. It takes some time to learn the culture of a new country.
Also It was different to face snow for the first time (which I loved!)
What could have made coming here an easier transition for you? The transition
wasn’t particularly hard because I already knew much about the country before
I came, but it would have been easier if I experienced more self-reliance
before I came. When I first came it was a huge transition despite family helping
me to cope with the circumstances. It has been a lot of fun with a load of new
experiences some of which were good, and some were bad; but they all were
learning experiences that contributed to my maturity in the world.
What travel advice would you give to persons wanting to visit your country?
Take summer clothes because it’s ALWAYS Summer over there. The people are
very hospitable so don’t worry about the food, in face you will probably gain
weight.
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What do you like best about the U.S.? About southwest Virginia? What do you
like least about the U.S.? About southwest Virginia? I like that there are a lot
of things that you can do that I couldn’t do before. Like hiking, Caving and
Skydiving which is something I’m really looking forward to. About Southwest
Virginia I love Blacksburg the most, it’s a great city that I have grown to love
and it will be hard to leave. When I first came to Blacksburg I was simply
visiting and decided to take the University tour. The moment I saw the view of
the drill field whilst standing near the Pylons, I decided right there and then
that this was where I want to be!
2. International Excursion: Korea with Dr. Cindy Wynne
In July and August this past summer, my daughter, her friend, and I went to South
Korea for three weeks. After traveling for a total of 24 hours (which included
three flights, the longest of which was 15 hours) we arrived in Incheon, an
international transport hub for Korea, and the third largest city in Korea. The
Incheon airport is one of the biggest in the world, and contains a hotel, golf course,
ice skating rink, casino, indoor garden, and a museum. We, however, did not see any
of this, as we went straight to our (not-in-the-airport) hotel to get some rest.
The next day we flew to Jeju-do Island, a popular tourist destination for people
who live on the Korean mainland. Locals refer to this volcanic island as “The Hawaii
of Korea,” and parts of this island do, in fact, resemble Hawaii. During our week in
Jeju-do, we had many adventures. One day, we visited a gorgeous Buddhist temple.
On the temple grounds, we sat by a waterfall and ate gamgyul (a type of orange
similar to the Mandarin orange or tangerine) that grew on the trees near the
waterfall.
Another day, we hiked through the underground Manjanggul Lava Tube. This lava
tube provides many opportunities for scientific research, and is one of the world’s
largest lava tubes. Hiking through the tube was a lot like caving – the ground was
uneven and the temperature was about 50 degrees Fahrenheit (a welcome change
from the extremely hot, humid summer temperatures in Korea).
The most popular food on Jeju is heukdwaeji, pork from a local black-skinned pig,
which was chewy and delicious. Raw fish is served with almost every meal, as is
kimchi (a traditional, spicy, fermented, side dish made with cabbage and other
vegetables). There is also a tea plantation, which serves fantastic green-tea ice
cream.
Jeju has a very sophisticated bus system, which we finally mastered about a day
before we left the island.
We spent over a week in Busan, Korea’s second largest city. I gave a talk at a
conference there (our reason for going to Korea in the first place), while my
daughter and her friend took the subway around the city. Luckily, the cities in
Korea are relatively safe and nonviolent, even at night, so I didn’t have to worry
(too much) about the roaming girls.
We have good friends in Busan, so they showed us around for a few days. They
took us to a traditional fish market, where we ate – stop reading now if you have a
weak stomach – LIVE shrimp and octopuses. The poor creatures were literally
trying to get out of our mouths while we ate them. It was really awful, and I felt
very sorry for them. However, when in Rome (or Korea), do as the Koreans do. My
daughter tried to make me feel better by telling me how fresh the octopuses and
shrimp were.
In Busan, we had a great time at a traditional jiimjilbang (Korean-style spa), which
is great for people who are not modest. Women go to one side, and men to the
other, and everyone is naked. In the jiimjilbang, there are many different pools to
soak in: a sodium bicarbonate pool to remove dead skin cells, a sodium chloride pool
for neuralgia and back pain, a painfully hot pool, an ice-cold pool, a pool that had
powerful waterfalls to massage our shoulders and back, and so forth. After soaking
in the various pools, we went into a room in the jiimjilbang in which women scrubbed
our bodies with cloths that felt like sandpaper. They scrubbed us so hard that we
exited the spa with pink and raw (and very clean) skin.
My favorite food in Busan was patbingsu, a strange but surprisingly delicious
dessert made from shaved ice, red beans, ice cream, tomatoes, fruit, rice cakes,
and milk. I loved it so much that I requested it, instead of a cake, for my birthday
dessert. My husband and daughter found the ingredients at Oasis Market in
Blacksburg, and made a surprisingly authentic and yummy version of it.
We wrapped up our trip in Korea’s capital city, Seoul. Seoul (along with the
surrounding metropolises), is the world’s second largest metropolitan area, with
over 25 million people living in a very small area. Seoul proper has a radius of about
9 miles, and is about one and a half times denser than New York City. However, it
seemed to me to be much cleaner, and safer, than New York City.
We have good friends who live in Seoul, and they showed us around. It was great to
hang out with friends who are locals, as they took us to the out-of-the-way places
that we would probably never have found in our tour books. For example, they took
us to an arthouse, where an artist walked us through making a traditional Korean
piece of art. We all brought these home with us, and intend to frame and display
them.
I suggest learning a few key phrases in Korean before traveling there. First, the
locals seemed to appreciate our pathetic attempts to speak Korean. Second, many
people in Korea do not speak English, so our few words and phrases came in very
handy.
And don’t worry – just because you will be on the other side of the world when you
visit Korea (and will thus be upside down), it will be surprisingly easy to keep your
feet on the ground and walk right-side-up, instead of falling off the Earth and into
space. ;
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International Education Week (November 16-20, 2015) is an opportunity to
celebrate the benefits of international education and exchange worldwide. This
joint initiative of the U.S. Department of State and the U.S. Department of
Education is part of their efforts to promote programs that prepare Americans for
a global environment and attract future leaders from abroad to study, learn, and
exchange experiences in the United States. - See more at:
http://eca.state.gov/programs-initiatives/international-educationweek#sthash.FW2WvcgP.dpuf
Schedule for International Education Week:
*The Cellar food truck will be on the Dublin campus between Martin and Rooker
Halls from 11am – 2pm on Tuesday, Nov. 17th
*We will be showing international movies on Wednesday, Nov. 18th at 10am, 12noon,
2pm and 4pm.
*The Multicultural Club will be selling international goodies from 11am - 1pm in the
Student Lounge in Martin on Thursday, Nov. 19th.
*We encourage all students, faculty and staff to wear their international dress
during this week.
4. Local Cultural Events:
 Native American Heritage Month (Oct. 15th – Nov. 15th)
http://www.mps.vt.edu/cultural_celebrations/american_indian_heritage_mo
nth/index.html
5. What in the World, International Education at NRCC: To learn more about
international happenings both locally and abroad, please like “What in the World:
International Education at NRCC” on Facebook:
https://www.facebook.com/nrccinternationaleducation