Paul Mata and CSUSB alumni think about how many miles one ...

student scapesThe internationalcomfort zoneKatharina FuchsBy Melissa Hebert andMarie-Claude Poirier-GuayKatharina Fuchs looks like a typicalCalifornia girl: blond hair, blue eyes, agreat smile and casual vibe. But whenshe opens her mouth, her accent givesher away. Katharina arrived in San Bernardinofrom Fulda University in Germanylast September, bringing with hera lot of cultural baggage and a desire todiscover and understand the Californiamentality. She wants to share her internationalknowledge and to discover themajor differences between her birthcity,Stuttgart, and her adopted city,San Bernardino.International student exchanges arehappening more frequently at CSUSB. Infact, for most university students thereare no borders when it’stime to learn. Fuchs thinksthat people in Californiaare very friendly and sheappreciates that they arealways interested in learningmore about her life andexperiences. She describesthe “comfort zone” of Americansas being more accessiblethan the “comfort zone”of Germans, and it makes it easier toget to know people. One of her biggestdiscoveries in California is Mexicanfood; sheloves it. But shebelieves that foodin the United States contains too muchsugar and preservatives. Still, for Mexicanfood, she makes exceptions.The 23-year-old Fuchs is a real globetrotter.She has visited more than10 countries, including Greece, France,Austria, Hungary, Slovakia, Spain andmany islands. Speaking German, Spanish,French and English,Fuchs has also worked as abartender in a rock musicbar in Germany. The majordifference between workingin a bar in Californiaand Germany, she says, isthat, in Germany, tips arenot allowed. While she admitsthat Germans are moreshy about connecting, theymore than make up for it, she says, becausethey are allowed to drink wineand beer at 16 years of age and hard liquorat 18. There are no closing hoursin bars and clubs. They close when theywant to, usually at about 5 a.m.German culture is also known for OktoberFest,which occurs every year inMunich during late September and earlyOctober. Some 6 million people attendevery year. Fuchs lived in Munichfor one year and describes this event as“the biggest party with great beers andfunny drinking music.”Fuchs attends Fulda University, whereshe is completing a major in marketing.Interested in becoming an executive atan advertising agency, Fuchs first wantsto visit other countries before enteringthe labor market. She will continueto live her first passion next summeras she is planning to travel to Thailandto learn more about the Asian culture.She also plans to work on a master’s degreein international management nextSeptember in Spain, where she willlive for two years. Can you say globetrotter… ? ●26 | summer 2008