Walk-In Hours

If I am to be completely honest, I forgot all about this assignment.  I don't particularly enjoy the class so generally I put my assignments off as long as possible.  Which leads me to the topic of this post, I neglected to attend a particularly "cultural" event in the past week so now as i sit here writing my post (at the last possible moment) I'm finding that my recent cultural experience has been rather modest.  Just as i was about to exorcise my realistic-creative writing technique, I realized that I have been living and breathing a cultural experience/event for my entire life.  This has been a more diverse and concentrated experience by my job at the International Student and Faculty Services.  For the great majority of my two years here at Ohio University, I've been a member of the ISFS Office.  My responsibilities mostly include secretarial work and assisting students. I also answer and direct phne calls, as well as schedule appointments.  Because these students are thrust into a new and sometimes confusingly different culture, working in the International Office is unlike anything else. Since I've been there for so long, I can now answer many of the student's questions.  Things I never thought I'd know (like the duration and requirements for a J-1 visa,  the office hours of the OPIE director, or which forms are required to re-enter the country as an F-1 visa recipient.  In addition to this random assortment of International traveling knowledge, I've also been granted a rare insight into the culture-shocked world of countless international students.  While many cultural stereotypes display themselves in the behavior of some students (bossy, entitled Arab graduate students (men mostly) or quiet, breathy, shy Chinese undergrads) there are continuously welcomed breaking of the norm. I've met so many wonderful people and learned so much in my two years as a student worker, I'm truly looking forward to the next two. I like to believe that the plethora of cultures and cultured people that I interact with on a daily basis are helping to make me a more worldly, compassionate, and culturally sensitive person. 

By far the busiest time of day at the ISFS office is everyday from 2-4. Walk-In Hours.  Studnts and Faculty members from all corners of the University come out of hiding to seek the immidiate advice of an International Advisor.  Unfortunatly we've been so busy the past few weeks (we just moved to a new, more central location, so there have been vast increases in the number of people in and ut f the office on a regular basis) many students can't actually see an advisor, at least not right away.  This makes for a VERY long line and very full room of students, many connected only by bits of half-learned, broken English.  But I would never change a bit of it, I love the little differences in culture and practice that arise daily.  I'm learning so much about the people and places of the world! And to think I used to DREAD walk-in hours...