2006 - Education Abroad Program at UCSB

From the Campus
Faculty Director
Professor Michael O’Connell
This issue of the Global Gaucho
features two articles by recent EAP
participants from
UCSB who pursued projects that
were funded by
grants from our
Jeanie Anderson
Memorial Fund.
This fund provides small grants to
students who propose to do projects that will enrich their studyabroad experience.
Kale Nakagawa, who was studying in Paris in the fall of 2004, knew
that his great uncle fought in France
during the Second World War in the
Japanese-American 442nd Brigade,
which liberated villages in the mountainous Vosges region. He thought it
would be interesting to see if there
were any records in that region of
the 442nd and its victory and sacrifices. As Kale’s article shows, the brigade was indeed remembered in the
Vosges 60 years later.
Kate Sikorski, studying in South
Africa last year, was troubled by the
fact that young black African women were not able to enjoy something
she loved, surfing. So she proposed
to put together a surfing outing for
a group of high school girls and to
teach them the sport. Sounds easy?
Read her story!
In spite of world tensions, the
participation rate of UCSB students in EAP has remained remarkably high. This year, 702 of them are
continued on page 4
Following Footsteps of War Hero
by Kale Nakagawa
Immediately following President Franklin D. Roosevelt’s Executive Order 9066
on February 19, 1942, 120,000 Japanese-Americans were forcibly removed from
their homes and properties and detained in desert wastelands across the continental United States. After being denied due process, targeted by xenophobes, and
stripped of all dignity, why then did 1,256 Nisei (2nd generation Japanese Americans), including my great-uncle, volunteer to fight for the U.S. during World
War II? Despite political, institutional, and societal racism, many Nisei believed that if there was ever a time to
demonstrate one’s loyalty for country
and to secure freedom and civil liberties for future generations, this was the
ultimate opportunity.
Studying in Paris, France with
EAP and having been provided a
grant through the Jeanie Anderson
Memoral Fund, I was able to conduct
research in the many small villages in
the Eastern French Vosges moun- Kale found a street in Bruyères named for the
tains where my great-uncle, John T. Japanese-American 442nd Regiment.
Suzuki, served with the 442nd Regimental Combat Team (RCT). In this sixtieth anniversary year, 2004, of the defeat of Nazi Germany, it was a timely project, and all the more significant because of my great-uncle’s participation as well as my own heritage.
In the dawn of WWII, October 1944, the Allies sought to liberate the German occupied North Eastern France. In a bloody three-day campaign, the Japanese American-composed 442nd RCT liberated the villages of Bruyères from
fascist control and in a fit of heroism, rescued the Army’s 36th Infantry Division and 1st Battalion of the 141st Regiment. In freeing the 221 surviving members of the 141st, the 442nd RCT sustained nearly 800 casualties. In terms of
honor, valor, loyalty, sense of duty, and heart, these men are my personal heroes. Not only did they receive 18,000 total unit awards, they are deemed the
most decorated unit in American history to this day.
Sixty years later, as I prepared for the 5-hour train ride, I imagined what was
going through the mind of my great uncle. Approaching the dead of winter, 20year-old Suzuki (I being 21 at the time) was about to experience “hell on earth.”
Overlooking the fact that he was not prepared with the right clothing for the
sleet and cold mountain winters, or that he would be sleeping in muddy spider
holes, wet, with barely enough military rations to survive, or even that bullets,
rockets, and shrapnel were killing his comrades left and right, he still imagined
continued on page 4
African Women of Color Learn to Surf
by Kate Sikorski
On a Tuesday in November, everything finally came
together so that I was knee deep in the Indian Ocean photographing black African women surfing. I was running a
day-long free surf instruction for African women of color.
In Durban, South Africa, mainly only white males surf. Seeing only white flesh surfing in what is called the Rainbow
Nation for its so many ethnicities bothered me. I was in
South Africa studying at KwaZulu-Natal University courtesy of the UC Education Abroad Program.
The Zulu culture I experienced in South Africa measured a female’s worth by the lengths she would go to
serve men within her home. In extreme patriarchal cultures, such as Zulu culture, women that play sports threaten men’s masculinity.
Recruiting women to learn surfing I found some of
them thought they were too fat to stand up on a surf board.
I am most interested in teaching these women because
sports would benefit their physical health and self esteem.
My first attempts to work through South African men
to recruit girls for surfing lessons proved fruitless. One told
me, after stringing me along, that it would not be “a good
idea” to take girls surfing because of their culture. I was
fuming after already organizing the bus transportation,
surf boards, and instructors at least two weeks prior.
Next a young Zulu man said that the girls in his youth
group would need permission from their families—something that in South Africa would take years to follow
through, and which he brought up only three days before
the scheduled event was to take place.
Then a male student at my university said that he could
round up high school girls from his township, Umlazi, fifteen minutes from downtown Durban. But after trying to
get money from me to transport the girls to the beach, he
said that three girls had finals the next day and that the other two girls would not be interested in surfing anyway!
Earlier that month, I had applied
for the Education Abroad Jeanie Anderson Memoral Fund for Creative
Projects. When I learned that my project had received a $500 grant, I set off
on a new tack to find non-white African
females for surfing pupils by distributing fliers to black, colored, and Indian Kate Sikorski
female students on my campus. When
my 22-year-old Zimbabwean friend, Ncane, who worked as
a live-in housekeeper and babysitter for a professor’s kids,
expressed an interest in participating, saying that she was
not afraid, I pushed the professor she worked for to secure a
relative I paid to transport from Umlazi to replace her.
On November 22, my four students and I jumped into
a combie (minibus taxi). To break the ice, I showed the girls
my huge camera I had duct taped around my stomach and
under my sweatshirt in order to smuggle it safely through
downtown. We got off at North Beach where there are surf
shops, cafes, and fast food restaurants. I led the girls to a
bathroom to change into what they wanted to swim in and
dashed around the corner to a surf shop, to rent me a couple really long learner boards. There I met one of the instructors, named Kath, a white South African girl my age I
had met rock climbing.
I put the two bigger women in the back of Kath’s truck
with the surf boards. While I walked with the other two
girls along the water, I showed them my sun screen and
they were truly interested and excited to slather it all over. I
walked slowly and told them that I did not want to tire them
out because they were going to need their energy for surfing. When we got to Addington, a beach not used by white
people about a half a mile or so away, I met up with Kath
and the girls and we had breakfast. One of the girls did not
have a swim suit and was going to wear a white shirt and no
bra on top, so I gave her a rash guard I brought, just in case.
The girls then wanted to cover their hair since getting it wet
and sandy is very expensive to fix when hair is tied up in little hair extension braids. I had some plastic grocery bags,
and they tied these on their heads like swim caps.
Teaching the girls the ins and outs of being in the water and surfing was the easiest part of the whole project. Despite one’s cut lip and another’s cut ankle, the girls evidently had a blast. Smiling, laughing, and charging the waves
tirelessly, I could not have asked for better subjects to photograph. It was a feat to actually accomplish managing to
teach non-white women to surf in South Africa. I was as relieved, happy, and tired as the rest of the crew as we walked
to the car, paid the car guard, and all went back to North
Beach, where white males surf and cameras are safe to hold,
to return the boards and go back home on the combies.
— Reprinted with the permission of Coastlines magazine
Study Abroad: Still Transforming Hearts, Minds, and Lives
We asked our student peer advisors, recent returnees who assist our office with recruitment, selection and orientation
activities, to write brief reflections on what their year of study abroad meant to them. Here are three by students who studied in
Chile, Germany, and Italy.
Coleen (left) with her Renca kids
The most cherished memories I
have from Chile are from my internship in one of its low-income barrios, La Renca, on the outskirts of the
capital city, Santiago. I worked at a
branch of a Chilean human right organization, SERPAJ, that founded a
center for the children of Renca to
go after school, instead of wandering the streets or being cooped up in
their small gated homes. Three times
a week I made the hour-long commute from Santiago, watching the
sky scrapers and shopping malls devolve into single story cement buildings with gated windows, horse-draw
carts, and massive packs of stray dogs.
“TIA COOOLLEEEENS!!!” chorused
the kids as they showered me with
hugs and kisses when I arrived. Although these children all had less
than ideal home lives and economic
situations, their strength, humor, and
honesty inspire me to this day.
— Coleen Yamamura-Clark,
Santiago, Chile
Georg-August Universität is in
Göttingen, a serene little university
town, belying its ancient origins, dating back as far as 953 A.D. Sometimes
this history brought me to tears. Upon
leaving the Georg-August Uni theater after Der Untergang (Downfall),
a movie about Hitler’s last days, the
reverent silence of the students took
my breath away. You could have heard
a pin drop. The Germans are as progressive as they come, and have taken events of the past, for which most
were not even alive, to heart. The nation marches on, undeterred by stereotypes. I took a class on a regional dialect of German (Niederdeutsch,
often associated with farmers). In our
last lecture of the semester, the professor announced the news… he was
losing his job, after 30 years. Funding
Kerry in Germany
for the Niederdeutsch department
had been cut. We all watched as he
said softly, “Bitte, wissen Sie noch, das
Volk… hat das letzte Wort.” (Please
remember, the people [the northern
German people, and not the university administration] …have the last
word.) In German lectures, everyone pounds on the desk rather than
clapping. We pounded so long our
fists hurt, and I got this lump in my
throat. How do you convey the shiver
of witnessing an era end, and another
take hold? You can’t. You have to live
it. Studying abroad connected me to
history in motion.
— Kerry Vineberg,
Göttingen, Germany
Kelly enjoying “La Grassa” in Italy
Whenever I’m feeling lost
amongst the blond beauties of Santa
Barbara I immediately remind myself
of all the “Ciao Bellas!” I was greeted with in Bologna, Italy. Living in
what I believed to be Italy’s best kept
secret, I couldn’t have been more
pleased with EAP’s program in Bologna. Rather than being surrounded by other English-speaking students that flock to study abroad programs in Florence, I was immersed in
the city known as “La Grassa, La Rossa e La Dotta.” As a new resident of
Bologna I was sure to enjoy all three
of these essential qualities, beginning
with my favorite one: “The Fat.” Pizza, tagliatelle bolognese, tortelloni …
I gladly ate them all in the company
of a rich red wine. The second characteristic of Bologna, “The Red,” required that I witness communist rallies in Piazza Maggiore and climb the
leaning tower to gaze out over the
bright rooftops of the medieval city.
Lastly, as a student at the oldest university in Europe, I took pride in Bologna “The Learned,” and attended
lectures in gorgeous gothic buildings
and palazzi. My experience abroad
with EAP truly gave me a taste of La
dolce vita and I only hope my future
travels and academic experiences will
be just as sweet.
— Kelly Croce, Bologna, Italy
EAP
Administrative
Director Given
Award
Staff Merit Winner, Sue Berg Arnold
Sue Berg Arnold, the admin-
istrative director of the UCSB
Education Abroad Program office, recently won a prestigious
staff merit award for her work in
heading up the campus EAP operations over the past 15 years.
The letter nominating Sue
for this award suggested that few
staff or faculty at UCSB can have
made a more significant impact
on students’ educational experience than she. Directly and indirectly Sue has made a studyabroad experience possible for
thousands of students.
The challenge Sue has faced
over the time of her directorship
has been an increasing number of students, especially in
the past six years, and an everincreasing complexity in programs. Sue, once supported by
a single assistant, now heads a
full-time staff of five and a group
of student peer advisors. In student orientations, she suggests
that “EAP” also stands for “enormous amounts of paperwork.”
Those able to make the
comparison believe that UCSB’s
office is the most efficient, effective, and cheerful EAP campus
office in the UC system, due in
large part to Sue’s leadership.
Director’s Letter
continued from page 1
studying abroad around the world
with EAP.
There are, however, two problems that many of them face. One
is an unprecedented level of antiAmericanism in the world. The second is the challenge of financing their
experience in a world in which fees
have been rising in California and the
dollar shrinking in relation to foreign
currencies.
Our response to the first problem is
to prepare our students to understand
that the animosity is not directed at
them personally and to encourage them
to make even more strenuous efforts to
understand and adapt themselves to
their host cultures. We believe the latter
is a strong tradition of our EAP alumni, and probably all of you reading this
have a vivid memory of striving to look
at the world from your host’s perspective during your study abroad.
Our response to the financial
problem is to create a scholarship fund
that we can draw on to help those students who face a need for funding to
make their study-abroad hopes a reality. We thank all of you who have given so generously to ensure that the
memorable experience you had can
continue for today’s students. And of
course we encourage all of you to consider helping in this endeavor.
Finally, can you indulge a bit of paternal pride? My own daughter Ellen,
a student in UCSB’s College of Creative Studies, will go off to Paris next
fall in the EAP Critical Studies Program. She works on her French assiduously – and chides her father on his
lame accent and stumbling grammar.
Following Footsteps of War Hero
continued from page 1
he was proving his loyalty by fighting
for a country that imprisoned his family and fellow Japanese Americans. Being able to embrace the land my uncle
once stood on, talk to those who lived
through what he did, and ultimately
reflect upon my utmost appreciation
for the country and countrymen that
my uncle so bravely fought for was a
once in a lifetime opportunity for me.
My research took me to Epinal
American Cemetery, Bruyères memorials, Biffontaine mountain memorials, various offices of mayors,
homes of ex-soldiers, and even a personal museum within the home of a
French historian. The delicious traditional food of the region coupled
with hearing the oral histories of the
new life-long friends that came from
all over the country to meet me, made
my trip a memorable success.
To now be able to relay this part
of my living history, through pictures
and words, is my homage to the soldiers of the 442nd. I praise the Jeanie
Anderson Memoral Fund, UC Santa
Barbara’s Education Abroad Program,
In a museum dedicated to the history of the
liberation of the Vosges, Kale Nakagawa found
a radio set like the one his great uncle, John Suzuki, used in combat.
and all the helping hands along the
way for allowing me to find that spirit
lost and hidden in the peaceful Vosges
Mountains. The tremendous opportunity to take a personal journey back
in time to an area filled with so much
passion, sacrifice, and hope truly fell
within the guidelines of an international education and an enriching
study abroad program.
— Kale Nakagawa is majoring
in Communication Studies at UCSB
and plans to graduate in June, 2006
The UCSB EAP office wishes to thank the following for their generous donations received over the last two years:
Ms. Ashley S. Aarons
Mr. and Mrs. John P. Doody
Mr. Jonah A. Light
Mr. James E. Anderson **
Mrs. Kay M. Dowgun
Mrs. Kathleen Lindblad
The Estate of Evert A.F. Anderson**
Mr. Karel J. Driesen
Mr. Ted Long
Ms. Tatyana G. Anguelova
Ms. Valerie I. Eliaser
Kathryn and Dinesh Mantri, M.D. *
Dr. James W. Arrott
Mr. and Mrs. Ralph R. Encinas
Dr. Jochen Marschall
Ms. Jennifer N. Asensio
Mr. David S. Engelder*
Dr. Laura G. Marschall
Mrs. Sabine Austin
Ms. Christina M. Esparza
Mr. and Mrs. James J. McClelland
Mr. Randall B. Bell
Mrs. Michelle E. Fadelli
Mr. and Mrs. James P. McMillan
Ms. Annette R. Bernier
Fannie Mae Foundation
Ms. Audrey D. Mcmullen
Mrs. Kathryn G. and
Dr. and Mrs. Edward L. Felix
Mr. and Mrs. James H. McNamara
Dr. Alan D. Beyerchen
Mr. and Mrs. Rick D. Fenchel
Barbara and Michael J. Mc Namara **
Mrs. Karen Anderson-Bittenbender and
Mrs. Laurie S. Fernandez
Mrs. Roberta H. McReynolds
Mr. David C. Bittenbender **
Mrs. Susan Fischer
Carin and Keith Mcvicker **
Mrs. Nicole A. and Mr. Jason B. Black
Mr. Mark J. Forster
Ms. Myrna C. Mendez-Lopez
Ms. Stacy Sara Black
Dr. Kristine G. Fredriksson
Merck Company Foundation Inc
Mrs. Kim D. Brady
Ms. Linda S. Frisch
Ms. Kathleen M. Michaels
Dr. Carolyn S. Bratt
Mrs. Nancy L. Geczi
Ms. Meredith A. Mills
Mr. Laurence J. Brock *
Ms. Leslie A. Gerson
Mr. John K. Mirau **
Ms. Joyce Brody
Cynthia M. and
Helen and Peter Molloy *
Mr. Kenneth C. Brown **
Dr. Manuel Garcia Gonzales
Mrs. Linda Anderson and
Mrs. Dina and Mr. Michael K. Burns **
John L. Grandsaert
Mr. Terry D. Moore **
Ms. Rebecca J. Burns
Mr. Charles R. Gough
Ms. Mary E. Morris*
Mrs. Tracy L. and Mr. Gary D. Butler
Mr. and Mrs. Charles O. Grannis
Mr. Richard C. Moss
Mr. and Mrs. Joseph L. Cain
Mr. Jonathan D. Greenberg
Mrs. Sommer L. Moss
Ms. Camille R. Carlson
Mr. and Mrs. J. Mike Gunn
Ms. Molly T. Murphy
Mrs. Karen S. Carothers
Mr. and Mrs. Daniel M. Gurney
Mr. Anthony James Nicco
Mrs. Claire Carroll
Mrs. Shelley E. Hanson-Boyd
Mr. Alan J. Niebel
and Mr. Devin Carroll
Ms. Stacey L. Harte
Ms. Clare G. Nisbet
Mr. and Mrs. Donald E. Carter
Mrs. Tracey L. Hauth
Mr. and Mrs. Richard E. Nystrom
Ms. Rosita Chaltiel
Ms. Kathleen E. Hoffman
Mr. Donal O’Connell *
Ms. Lauren M. Choi-Dea
Mr. and Mrs. Dennis T. Horan
Mr. and Mrs. Edward J. Oliver
Miles and Lucy Christy
Ms. Francine A. Hudson
Mr. Filip Cerna Ostrak
Dr. Howard W. Clarke
Mrs. Janet L. and Mr. Richard Hunter **
Mrs. Anne D. Ozzimo
Mrs. Ursula M. Clarke
Marilouise Hurley
Mr. and Mrs. Kwangsoo Park
Ms. Lynn M. Conger
Intracorp Real Estate
Ms. Kathleen A. Paveglio *
Ms. Wendy Copperud-Price
Ms. Cynthia L. Jaynes
Mrs. Joanne K. Pon-Rubin
Mrs. Anne Cossitt
Mrs. Marilyn J. Jocz
Angela R. Potter
Mr. Patrick T. Coughlin
David and Lois Julin *
Mrs. Lonna Q. Powers
Mr. Carmen S. Curasi
Ms. Linda Kasper *
Sherry Prieto
Mr. and Mrs. Robert M. Dahlbo
Kathryn R. and James F. Kealy
Mrs. Kimberly S. Prock
Mr. and Mrs. Steve Davenport
Ms. Deborah S. Kelly
Mr. Michael J. Pullen
Ms. Jamila M. Dawson
Ms. Karen Kenny
Ms. Lourdes Leticia Puyol
Mr. and Mrs. Kirk Dayton
Sandra and Laurence W. Kessenick **
Mrs. Ellen S. and
Mrs. Nancy De La Torre
Ms. Ji Young Kim
Mr. Robert L. Raede, Jr. **
Ms. Susan R. DeVinny
Ms. Sandra L. Klein
Colonel Lawrence H. Reichner, Sr., Ret.
Mr. and Mrs. Wallace C. Dieckmann
Victoria and Peter L. Kruger *
and Mrs. Nancy F. Reichner *
Ms. Cathie C. Dixon
Mrs. Judy S. La Pointe
Mr. and Mrs. Mike Riegel
Edith and Kenneth Riemer *
Ms. Ellenmarie R. Salud
Mr. Adolfo Sanchez, Jr.
Nanette O. Sand
Ms. Elizabeth A. Sanger
Mr. Paul D. Sarkaria *
Mrs. Sharon E. Savene
Ms. Roxann N. Schliecker
Mr. Verne C. Scholl **
Dr. Susan J. Scollay
Ms. Joan M. Seaton
Ms. Sharon L. Sherman *
Dr. Hallam C. Shorrock, Jr.
Ms. Katherine Sierra **
Mr. and Mrs. Rick Skehen
Mr. and Mrs. Maynard C. Skinner
Mr. and Mrs. Raphael Smadja
Mrs. Sarah L. Smith
Ms. Jessica M. St. John
Mr. James H. Starr
Mrs. Diane M. Storm
Mr. and Mrs. Scott Sutherland
Ms. Jennifer A. Tervelt
Mr. Ron G. Thayer
Mr. and Mrs. William Tsacoyeanes
Mr. Mark L. Tseselsky
Mr. and Mrs. Yoshi Tsunehara
Ms. Dina Vainer
Susan Van Kleek
Mr. Gabriel D. Vandervort
Mr. and Mrs. George L. Vogt *
Mr. and Mrs. James D. Vogt
Mrs. Anne Wakeman
Mrs. Karen F. Walters
Mr. Matthew L. Watkins
Ms. Neika L. Watts
Ms. Melissa T. Wheeler
Ms. Patti V. Whelen
Dr. Kathryn D. Wild
Mr. Michael E. Wilson *
Julia A. Winter
Mr. Warren W. Wright
Dr. Kent D. Yager
Mr. Robert K. Zaccheo
Mr. and Mrs. Kamen N. Zakov
Mr. Frank C. Zermeno
Mrs. Frances M. Zertuche
Mr. and Mrs. Wayne Ziobro
* indicates a donation between $500 and $1000; ** indicates a donation of $1000 or more
Sponsor a Reunion Event
Have you ever wished to get together with fellow UCSB alumni who studied in the country where you spent your EAP
year? Or would you like to meet former EAP students living in your part of California?
EAP alumna Ellen Raede (Spain, 1979), together with her husband Rob, hosted an event at her Hope Ranch home in Santa Barbara in March of last year. Among the guests were William Allaway, the founding director of EAP, as well as the current
UCSB campus and systemwide staff. Former EAP students from as far back as the 1960s mingled with recent returnees and
found plenty to talk about – and a surprising similarity of experience in terms of the ways their lives had been affected.
In June Linda Anderson Moore (Madrid, 1968) and her husband Terry Moore hosted a similar event at their home in
San Diego. Elena Butler Thompson (Spain 1982) helped to coordinate the event.
If you would like to sponsor such a gathering in your area, or one focused on your particular study-abroad country, get
in touch with Professor O’Connell (805-893-4022; oconnell@english.ucsb.edu) or Sudi Staub (805-893-2190, sudi.staub@
ia.ucsb.edu) for help with locating alumni who might be interested in such an event.
Opportunities to Give Back
Over the past five years our program has grown substantially; more than 3,000 UCSB students have
studied abroad at 150 programs in 35 countries worldwide. This year over 750 will participate.
The need for scholarship support has grown proportionally.
UCSB’s Education Abroad Program hopes you will consider a gift to support scholarships.
Scholarship Fund
With more than $2,000,000 in loans and financial aid requested annually by students who wish to study abroad, we are
seeking gifts to aid in providing scholarship support for those students who would not otherwise be able to take advantage
of this life-changing opportunity.
“If I had to pick the one event in my life that most strongly influenced who I am today, it would without a doubt be my EAP year in
Madrid (78/79). The thrill of successfully immersing oneself in a foreign culture, interacting daily with the locals and sharing different
values, is an experience that all should be able to have. – Ellen Raede, donor to UCSB EAP
For more information, please contact:
Michael O’Connell
Director of UCSB’s EAP Program
(805) 893-3763
or via email at
oconnell@english.ucsb.edu
Education Abroad Program, Campus Office
University of California, Santa Barbara
Santa Barbara, CA 93106-3040
RETURN ADDRESS REQUESTED
Sudi Staub
Director of Development
(805) 893-2190
or via email at
sudi.staub@ia.ucsb.edu
NON-PROFIT ORGANIZATION
U.S. POSTAGE
PAID
SANTA BARBARA, CA
PERMIT NUMBER 104