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"We have a running joke in India that people in the United States who are Indian are either doctors, engineers or own hotels,"
Amazing! That same running joke exists in America, too!
Seeking an education, to reunite with family or even to escape hard times in their home countries, a steady stream of international students perpetuates a global flavor at Augusta State University.
This fall, ASU enrolled 182 students from at least 37 countries, up from 155 in fall 2007.
Students like Rupinder Singh Dhariwal, "RD" for short, who arrived from India two months ago to begin course work in Management Information Systems, acclimate quickly because they have relatives in Augusta already.
"We have a running joke in India that people in the United States who are Indian are either doctors, engineers or own hotels," said Dhariwal, whose brother is an Augusta software engineer and sister-in-law, a resident at Medical College of Georgia.
What surprises Dhariwal and many of his international peers, however, is the willingness of American students to help him, such as a group that guided him to the IT building on his first day.
"I thought maybe they were joking," he said. "Are they planning to play a prank on me? But they were not," he said.
What's different in Augusta from his native India, however, is the accessibility and friendliness of his professors, the 23-year-old said.
"I was surprised that they did so much to help us," he said. "They will use slang and in fact, some professors use curse words -- not in a bad way, but more to keep us involved. Jokes, they're really helpful."
Students such as Valerie Dorce, 24, make up the population of approximately 100 international students with green cards instead of student visas.
Dorce, a criminal justice major who transferred from the University of Geneva, Switzerland, said she was happy to reunite with extended family who settled in Martinez by way of Fort Gordon.
"The difference, with Switzerland and Europeans in general, is that people here are more open-minded, more friendly. I can easily talk to someone on the bus, the market. Here, I think it's easier to get to know them."
A challenge for Dorce and some of her international peers is the lack of public transportation.
"I cannot go everywhere I want to go, because I don't have a car," she said.
One of a large population of international student athletes is Julie Fontaine, an 18-year-old from Marseilles, France.
A glance at team rosters reveals at least 25 student athletes with hometowns outside the United States.
Fontaine, studying physical therapy and kinesthesiology, said she was recruited by her tennis coach with the promise of more practice time and the opportunity to become bilingual.
"Sports is important in the American life, whereas in France I can't do my studies and my sports together. It's not possible."
Two weeks since arriving in the United States for the very first time, she's adjusted to her schedule.
Fontaine visited downtown Augusta, but one thing stood out to her and some of her under-21 peers.
"It's a little bit like in France; it's a party. But here, it's very strict about alcohol, whereas in France, it's not."
The golf team offers Swedish player Alexander Wennstam Holmqvist, 19, instant family, and he loves being able to play in the golf capital.
"Such a great opportunity to practice, and the weather is almost good all the time. It can be pretty hot, but better hot than cold. We're probably going to play Augusta National in the spring, hopefully," he said.
In Sweden, where the temperature is 60 degrees right now, he can only play five months out of the year, versus the "whole year" in Augusta.
Lissa Murakami of Sao Paulo, Brazil, joined three others from her home country on the women's tennis team when she transferred from a college in Minnesota to Augusta State, where she said she's much happier.
"There were like, no Brazilians at all at the school," Murakami said.
"The people here are very different," she said. "I don't know if it's because I feel more comfortable here, but I feel like the people here are happier."
In all, there are at least 14 from Brazil this year, the most of any country. At least seven students hail from Sweden, at least five from China and India and four or more are from the United Kingdom.
Making international students' experience as positive as possible is the job of the International Friendship Program, which held a reception last week to connect some 25 new international students with ASU "friends" to help make them feel at home.
"Sometimes, if you are a fish out of water, you just go home," said Jana Sandarg, a Spanish professor who heads up the program.
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