In the midst of the United States’ turbulent international relations and an ever-changing political atmosphere, the University of Wisconsin welcomes international students from 105 different countries. With 3,885 international students currently attending UW, Madison boasts the fourth-largest international-student population in the nation.

Several of these students shared their diverse experiences and the ways in which their perspectives on campus are different than the stereotypical Wisconsinite. Many of these students, such as Junko Matsuba from Japan, were very surprised by what they found when they came to campus for the first time.

“I didn’t realize this university [was] so big,” said Junko, a first-year transfer student from Japan. “It is such a large country. Roads are broader, people are taller — everything here is bigger. I was very nervous when I first got here.”

Compromising is a large part of the university’s multicultural experience.

Many international students hold very different perspectives on what multiculturalism on campus means.

“The idea of creating diversity [at the UW] is really very foolish,” said Zach Zilinski, of Manamah, Bahrain. “It is a very neo-liberal, politically correct idea that conflicts with any concept of a truly global community. If you really want an integrated community, you can’t single out ethnicities.”

Although he feels that people here are very liberal and forward thinking, Zach has seen many misguided views of Muslims here on campus. While flying to Madison this fall, he was detained at airport customs because all of his tickets were from the Middle East.

Other students have also felt alienated by their international status. Shuoa Lee, a junior at the UW, said sometimes he feels isolated and wonders if others are uncomfortable with his ethnicity.

“A lot of people can be afraid to talk to minorities … it’s not even that they’re afraid but that they don’t want to offend you,” said Lee.

When Zain Tewalthomas, a freshman from Kiev, Ukraine, came to Madison for the university’s SOAR program last summer, she said her background was a source of confusion. When she and her father were asked where they were from in a cafeteria conversation, Zain simply replied, “Kiev.” One eager parent at her table, thinking that Zain had said, “Kiel” [a small town in Wisconsin], responded by exclaiming, “Oh, I go there all the time!”

“It was hilarious. My dad and I just looked at each other, like we were totally misunderstood,” Zain said.

Sometimes the English language itself can be a difficult barrier.

“Even though I am happy to be here, sometimes I wish the textbooks were in Japanese,” said Junko. “I always feel my vocabulary is so poor, but after classes I get help from TAs and professors.”

Along with language barriers, cultural compromises and the potential for being misinterpreted, many international students are trying to maintain their cultural identity while being immersed in the American college experience. This struggle has led these students to look for very different things from their college experience at UW.

Lee, who was born in Thailand but attended high school in Wisconsin, said throughout his college years, he has been constantly looking for ways to preserve his Mung culture.

“I maintain my heritage through my family,” Shuoa said. “It is hard to keep traditional ways when your life blends in so much with western culture … and I’m not sure there is a student organization on campus that could do that for you.”

Other students with less experience in the United States looked to campus as a way to broaden their cultural understanding of America.

“I’ve been doing multicultural things for 17 years, and this is my study abroad,” said Zain.

While trying to balance matriculating into a new culture and maintaining their own, all of the international students who shared their experiences were happy to be in college at UW.

Rittu Hingorani said her hometown of Pune, India, was a college town with a student environment much like that of Madison. Although she noticed many similarities, her initial complaint was that food here is much less spicy than Indian cuisine.

“This Chinese [food] is not the Chinese I got at home,” Rittu, a second-year graduate student, said. “But you come two days into a country, and you’re not going to like everything. All in all, at the end of the day in this country, this is my home, and I love it here.”