Aaron Vehling

Of all the challenges for international student Tom Manville, just one has been getting used to how people drive here. Manville doesn’t drive but said it still takes a while to get used to getting in the correct side of the car.

Manville, a sophomore theatre major from King Alfred’s College in Winchester, England, is studying at UW-Eau Claire this semester.

Of the three colleges students were allowed to pick from, Manville said Eau Claire had the best theatre department.

Before coming to Eau Claire, Manville saw posters about the opportunity to study in the United States and then filled out an application, he said.

The next step was an interview in which he and other students were asked if they expected they could survive easily in a different country. They also were asked why they wanted to go and what they expected to get out of it.

Gary Lennon, also a sophomore from King Alfred’s College, knew Manville from the performing arts program there. When picking out colleges in England to go to, Lennon said he picked King Alfred’s because they offered the exchange program.

Manville said he was looking forward to meeting new people and “becoming part of a new community.”

King Alfred’s and Eau Claire have had an exchange program for students since 1981 and more than 200 students from each school have been involved, according to the Eau Claire study abroad Web site.

“It’s a well-established exchange, so (King Alfred’s is) familiar with what programming we offer here,” international student adviser Phil Huelsbeck said. “Typically in the past, their students have been more in the performing arts area, so the majority of them have come here for theater course.

“Anytime they can experience a different country, a different culture, a different educational system, it just certainly broadens their horizons and makes them more aware of how other systems and other countries operate,” he said.

Taking a leap
Both Manville and Lennon made a long journey to get here.

Manville had never been to the United States. Before he arrived in Eau Claire he did some sightseeing in New York, Washington and Nashville, Tenn., then spent a week in Minneapolis.

“I was underwhelmed by the Statue of Liberty,” he said. Though stressful, Manville said it was fun because he saw so much in one week.

After the week in Minneapolis, Manville’s host family picked him up and drove him to Eau Claire.

Assistant international student adviser Fay Bobb said the program offers international students a host family, and said the students can come a few days before orientation and stay with a family in the Eau Claire area.

“It seems to be very beneficial to the students to have that family here they can contact and do things with,” she said.

Lennon had the option to have a host family like Manville, but didn’t make it here on time. Lennon, a double major in performing arts and dance, said he had been accepted to work at Disneyland Paris, but chose not to because the exchange program to Eau Claire was going on at the same time.

A little uncertainty
This is Manville’s first time away from home for so long, he said.

This is Lennon’s seventh trip to the United States, but he still has noticed some different things from his most recent trip here.

“Americans are more laid back,” he said.

He added that while it has been hard not having his friends from home here, he feels welcome here because of how friendly everyone is.

Manville also noticed some differences between the people here and in England.

“Americans are just a lot more animated,” he said. People here are less vain when it comes to appearance and they are “a lot more open with clothing styles,” he added.

Living arrangements also are a bit different here compared to England.

Manville, who shared an apartment with seven people at home, each with his or her own bathroom, said now that sharing a room in Bridgman Hall is the biggest difference.

“It’s also quite nice to mix with people of all ages,” he said. “I actually really enjoy that in a big way.”

There also are academic challenges faced by international students.

Manville said it was quite a shock to have homework every week, or every day. With the different workload, Manville said he has gotten confused over simple things just because he knows them in a different style.

Lennon said the peer guides from the Center for International Education said to expect a lot of work, but in England he is used to everything being due at the end of the semester.

Getting oriented
Junior peer guide coordinator Courtney Daniels was in charge of planning orientation for the students this fall.

She started working last November to find students who wanted to be peer guides and then worked over the summer to organize everything, she said.

After the 11 peer guides and two volunteer peer guides were picked, they came back two weeks before school started for their week-long training, Daniels said. The week after that was the orientation for the international students, which included skits about basic campus awareness issues like safety and registration, she said.

Evening activities also were included, such as going to the movies or out to eat, to make the students feel at home in Eau Claire.

“I just overall wanted to make sure that orientation was effective for students,” Daniels said.

Huelsbeck said international students are encouraged to get involved in anything they can.

“We want them to take part in campus activities and really get to know more than just their specific field or major or department,” he said.

Lennon and Manville said the orientation was a positive experience.

“Orientation was really, really well organized, Manville said.

For Lennon, having peer guides was a privilege, because when he got to know all of them and when he arrived, there was someone there to meet him, he said. The international students arrived before other students moved into the dorms.

“It would have been a lot more daunting if all the students were here,” Lennon said. “I think it’s an excellent way to do that.”

Lasting effects
Already Manville and Lennon have been involved in many activities.

Both are working on the stage crew for the upcoming theater production of “The Skin of Our Teeth.” Manville also is on the international soccer team with people from all over the world. Lennon and some of the other international students will be working on the Folk Fair in November, making the United Kingdom room, which will display facts about England, he said.

Manville couldn’t bring the food he misses from home, or the sports he likes to watch on television with him from England, but he will take some things back when he leaves.

“I would say I’d try to be a bit more animated about life,” Manville said. “I’d be more comfortable just walking down the street and saying ‘hi’ to people.”

Before they leave, both have some things they want to do. Lennon said he plans to go to Los Angeles over Thanksgiving.

Manville also wishes to travel, to see Chicago and some of the bigger cities in Wisconsin.

In the end, being an international student is an experience with a variety of outcomes, they said.

Lennon has made a lot of friends here, and he said he will miss them the most when he leaves in December.

Manville said when he returns and after he graduates he will probably end up teaching. He said his experience studying in the United States will help his future in education.

“I can bring back knowledge more in academic studies than lifestyle,” Manville said. “It’s a life-changing experience.”