More than 30 groups serve as cultural ambassador on campus, including international and area studies clubs. International students can share their experiences and find friends from their home countries and domestic students can explore different cultures through the activities of the groups.

Yong Zhang Chengdu, China, sophomore, recently started a student group, All about China!, to respond to students’ increasing interests in China and promote better understanding about the country.

Zhang said the group would collaborate with Chinese Students and Scholars Friendship Association and organize cultural workshops in the fall. The group sponsored a T-shirt design contest in the summer to raise money for victims of the Sichuan earthquake in China.

Zhang said although more American students showed interest in China, some of them had misunderstandings about the Chinese.

“Some of them think all Chinese are brainwashed by the Chinese government,” Zhang said. “They think we are not so open-minded.”

Zhang said he hoped the group would help students to explore Chinese culture and bring more communication between Chinese students and American and other international students on campus.

Dinesh Raveendran, Chennai, India, graduate student, said that he participated in Cultural Indian Club, an Indian student association at the University, because he wanted to celebrate traditional Indian events. The club sponsors several events through the year, including an independence day celebration, pot lucks and traditional dancing displays. Raveendran said he liked to attend Indian festivals, such as Diya, a festival of lights.

Allen Lien, Taipei, Taiwan, graduate student, said that while the Taiwanese Student Association served to help Taiwanese students at the University, it held events to inform people of Taiwanese culture. Lien, former vice president of the association, said the Chinese new year was one of the biggest events. The event featured a dinner party, game night and a show of Taiwanese performances.

He said the dinner party attracted many people, and many Americans gained interest in Taiwan after they ate food or enjoyed Taiwanese dancing and songs.

“I think the easiest way is food,” Lien said. “I think most Americans try food first.”

He said anyone was welcome to join the association and attend the events. He said the association served as a bridge to connect Taiwanese students to different groups of people on campus, including American students who practiced their language skills and other international student groups.

Bonkyoung Ku, Seoul, Korea, senior, said the Korean Student Association focused on supporting Korean students on campus. The members of the association holds social events and talk with students when they have problems.

Ku, president of the association, said when new students came to the University, he would pick up them from the airport, show them around Lawrence and help them find a place to live. If they did not have a car, the members provided a ride for shopping.

“I think I’m repaying what I got,” Ku said. “When I got help, they just told me you don’t have to pay back to me, pay back to new comers.”

Ku said he picked up new students from the Kansas City airport more than 10 times in the past fall semester. He said he had written a check for their housing several times because the housing office didn’t accept any cash and many Koreans didn’t have a banking account when they just arrived.

“This is kind of too much, but we usually do like this,” Ku said. “I think this is a good tradition for Korean Student Association, and I just try.”

Evan Dylla, Eden Prairie, Minn., senior, decided to join AISEC Kansas after he spent a semester in England to study abroad. Dylla, president of AISEC Kansas, said AISEC was founded in Europe after World War II to create better understanding between people of different cultures. This international organization sends students abroad to do an internship to achieve this goal. Dylla said three students from the Kansas chapter participated in an oversea internship this summer. AISEC also sponsors local events to promote cross-cultural experiences in a community.

Dylla said AISEC Kansas held several events last year, including international dinner parties, presentations about women and Islam, Latin America and China. He said the presentation about women and Islam was one of his favorite events. He learned why people wore the hijab or head scarfs. He said he didn’t think that the hijab was empowering some women before the event.

“‘Women and Islam’ was well received by the audience,” Dylla said. “It was a good timing, too because Turkey was dealing with the ban on the hijab.”

— — Edited by Matt Hirschfeld