PLU Foreign Kids Exploring America!

Dear friends,

It's been a while since I wrote you a letter. How have you been?Any amazing stories you'd like to share?

Early in June this summer, I flew to Namibia, Africa with a film-making group from PLU. One of the things that I miss the most was jogging on random afternoons outside of the hotel in which we stayed. The best part of my run was seeing the purple-ish sky as the sun was setting. It reminded me of the dream I haven't lost -- to see as much of this world as I could before I die.

On a hiking trip we went on in Daan Viljoen Nature Reserve, we found a tiny tree on the ground.

So there I was, planting my dream like gardeners popping seeds into the soil. Knowing that I'd only go further on my journey to see more of this world once I started, I realized how lucky I was.

After returning to the U.S., I became busy with making a trailer, preparing to get a driver's license, and the list goes on. Then, it was the New Student Orientation for Fall 2014 - the most exciting time of the semester for everyone at PLU.

Photo Credit: John Froschauer

International Student Services office has been adjusting to some new changes this year, while we said our goodbyes to Akane Yamaguchi, we welcomed Hai Doan, the new assistant director of social media, to our team. As usual, the orientation was still full of excitement.

Photo Credit: Hai Doan

The only thing different, and better, is that our new student body is a lot more diverse from the semesters before. We were excited to see faces from Saudi Arabia, Israel, France, Germany, China, Malaysia, China, etc.

Photo Credit: Hai Doan

Venturing to downtown Tacoma in the midday sun with the new international crowd easily became an odd scene in the eyes of strangers. "A bunch of foreign kids were looking for hello, cupcake," said a woman randomly passing by. She looked confused... I must add.

*One of the activities we do with new students. Each group is given a map of downtown Tacoma. The winning team must find all the locations marked in the map and take group pictures in front of each location.

Here you have it. The story has not ended yet. I am sure that this fun group will have more stories to share as the semester goes on. If I know of any, I will tell you more.

Let's have a wonderful school year!

Love always,

Shunying Wang