The school year 1996-97 is off and running, with a full house, a fine program planned for the semester, and the annual reception for new foreign students on campus duly observed with a whopping 250 in attendance. We have two new Board Members, one a retired teacher very much interested in "Cosmopolitan-ness" and the other a veteran of foreign student affairs, especially acting as hostess for incoming students and their families. The yard looks neat and attractive, and the house has some new furnishings: a rug on the TV room floor, an area rug in the living room, and some other attractive new items. In short, everything looks neat, bright, and attractive...all the way through to the kitchen.
Our Sunday evening dinners started with a Chinese production, and the entire semester is planned with a good variety, and the Thursday evening coffee hours are also programmed for the semester. Each of the coffee hours has a definite theme, often with an outside speaker; the residents and their friends who attend these hours find them extremely interesting and worthwhile.
However, in this issue of "Cosmo Connections" I would like to emphasize one of the features of Cosmopolitan Club that perhaps we sometimes forget in our enthusiasm with the social aspect and the meeting of new friends from overseas. I am referring to our usefulness on campus, particularly, of course, to new students and faculty from other countries. I would like to illustrate this factor by telling you something about my experiences in teaching overseas. The fact that I was teaching English may or may not be pertinent.
In 1953, I went to Kabul, Afghanistan, to teach in a girls' elementary secondary-level school, grades 7 through 12. The eleven Afghan students here at the U of I had encouraged me to apply, as they had had pleasant, sometimes hilarious experiences with American teachers in Kabul. This job was not sponsored by any educational or governmental agency; I applied directly to the Afghan Embassy in Washington, DC. The Afghan Ministry of Education paid my air fare, round trip, though I think that they may have taken a somewhat dim view of a 46-year-old unmarried woman going to their country to teach!
I would like to emphasize the fact that from the time when I received the airline ticket from the Afghan Embassy through my year of teaching in Kabul I was on my own. Of course, I had to get information frequently, but I had to ask whoever I thought might be able to answer my questions, so luck figured very strongly. Nobody and no agency came forward and volunteered to help me; no group was stationed anywhere, in any office which made a business of helping and directing new arrivals.
One of the best examples of this was my arrival at the Kabul airport, where a relative of one of the Afghan students on the U of I campus was supposed to meet me but failed to show up until I had waited in despair for perhaps half an hour, explaining that his car was out of order. At last he came to pick me up in a gawdy, a horse-drawn taxi. So we went to the Hotel de Kaboul, where I was supposed to stay (news to me). I realized later that this was probably the best choice, the alternative being to find and rent a house, plus employing some servants (to manage shopping, cooking, housekeeping, etc.), an insurmountable task for a stranger.
The manager of the Hotel spoke good English and was very helpful; in fact, he was my best adviser during my entire year in Kabul. I did not have any contact with the Ministry of Education; no representative was sent either to help me with the business of arriving in the city or to introduce me to my job. This last was accomplished again by the hotel manager and thence by the young women who were teachers at the school and who knew a little English. The Principal of the school spoke only Farsi (modern Persian) and German.
So, I was started on my schedule in a rather worrisome way, not knowing anything but the rooms where I should hold my five classes (in Kabul the teacher changed rooms each hour, not the students; they stayed in the same room all during the school day).
So much for the routine work. But sometimes there was a special meeting of some sort, and I was usually a bit late in finding out about it, and at that through the kindness of one of the young teachers. One of these events involved a short walk to the King's palace, only about three blocks away, where we (all teachers) were to sit in mourning for the death of the Queen's mother. We were ushered into a large room and seated on the floor, backs against the wall, in a circle around the room. While there, we listened to readings from the Koran, which were "broadcast" throughout the palace. This lasted about an hour.
I wish to point out that, during this episode, at least at the beginning, about all I could do was follow my group. There had not been any previous announcement with explanation of what we were to do. Of course the natives knew. It was an alien and almost shocking experience without warning.
In contrast to these experiences, the situation was much different in Monterey, Mexico, where I taught one summer. There were many advisers (fellow teachers) to help a newcomer. True, there was not a central point to which one could go for information, but I had gone there at the invitation of an engineering professor on the faculty whom I knew. He was my information center, along with a member of the English faculty and the woman in charge of the dining room. I was always informed of anything I should know.
Another example of the importance of having a center at least a source of information in my overseas experience was in Bogot , Colombia, where I taught one semester on a Fulbright grant. In that case, of course the Fulbright office was my guide. It was staffed by a very efficient young Colombian woman who spoke almost perfect English.
Well, my point is that a center of information is vital to a foreigner who is going to do anything (a job or just live) in a foreign country. And our Cosmopolitan Club serves that purpose on this campus in many cases. Our Coordinator is tireless in helping, not only the residents, but all overseas people who come her way. Do you remember that the Cosmopolitan Club was useful to you, as well as being entertaining?