When a sudden storm broke out on one of the first days of the program, students sought shelter in the closest buildings. But Sihan Liu of Tibet and Madison Lee of Long Island, New York, decided to stay on the beach, searching for a lost phone through the wet sand and laughing in the rain.
“We kept taking photos in the rain anyway and had so much fun together,” Lee said. “That was my first really fun moment of the program.”
The rainy afternoon was just one of the adventures cherubs faced.
Students came to the program from all over the world, like Ukraine, the United Kingdom and China. The dorm halls were always filled with mini-lessons in various languages and discussions of cultural topics, which came as a complete surprise to some foreigners.
Meher Sareen of London was confused when Declan Smith of Chicago called her “ma’am.”
Sareen met him for the first time during Smith’s visit to her roommate Lucy Shirrell, with whom he goes to high school. From then on, they continued spending more time together, learning about each other’s cultures.
After four weeks together, Sareen catches herself addressing others as “ma’am.”
“Now every time I reference anyone, I call them ma’am or sir,” Sareen said. “I really appreciate that he taught me that.”
Smith said he was shocked that pet shops don’t exist in the United Kingdom. He can’t imagine going online and finding a breeder to buy a turtle.
“When it’s true friendship, you just don’t remember how you met sometimes,” Arsen Shymon of Oleksandrivka, Ukraine, said.
Zoe Romney of San Francisco said Shymon is always the one who laughs at everyone’s jokes.
“I feel like I can always come up and talk to you, and even if it starts as fake laughter, we can turn it into real laughter,” Romney said.
She said they realized they had become friends on the train ride when they “got into a conversation that was impossible to pull away from,” filled with “sleep-deprived, crazy humor.”
Liu said he had some expectations about the people he would meet.
“I had a stereotype for California people,” Liu said. “I thought they would have weird accents, be mean, tan, confident and share everything.”
However, he said his opinion changed when he met Romney. After lectures, they would go to the lawn in the back of McCormick, lie down and start talking about life and the world.
“I never thought I could have that kind of interaction with an American person where you share similar perspectives and feelings,” Liu said.
Lee said she also held the stereotype of people from East Asia as more reserved.
“That’s definitely not the case with Sihan,” Lee said. “He’s very loud and outgoing, which is a great quality.”
Having enjoyed four weeks together, students find it hard to say goodbye. Sareen said she will always remember how Smith “made me fall on the floor laughing in scenarios where I probably shouldn’t be.”
A week after the program ends, they said they will reconnect again in London.
Shymon said he would miss Romney’s loud and infectious laugh.
“I’m going to miss him making that specific face because it always makes me laugh,” Romney said.
Lee said she is sad she will no longer be able to enjoy Liu’s sensitivity.
“I feel like I’ve never met anyone who feels so deeply and has such care for other people,” Lee said.
Coming here and talking to people from all over the world helped dispel many stereotypes.
“If I made a ranking of who is the easiest person to talk to in my entire life so far, Madison Lee is in the top 10,” Liu said.
