By LIN LIAN ONG
International professors come from all over the world to impart their knowledge to BYU students.
Despite variations among cultural, economic, political and geographical environments, BYU's international faculty, numbering about 50, seem to be coping admirably.
'In the beginning, I felt a lot of differences between the Oriental society and the western society, but with the passing of time, I began to feel very comfortable because we have the gospel, and the gospel levels all the differences between western culture and Oriental culture,' said Dong Sull Choi, an associate professor in the Religious Education Department who is from South Korea.
Choi said he feels at home in Utah. He has stayed here for almost 15 years. The problems he encountered in the beginning have been replaced by feelings of happiness and comfort.
Another international instructor in the Religious Education Department, Gaye Strathearn from Brisbane, Australia, looks at the situation from a dissimilar perspective.
'It's not home. There's no place like home. There are differences but that's part of the fun in traveling,' Strathearn said.
'I tell everyone at the beginning of class to jump up and down if they don't understand me,' Strathearn said regarding her accent. She knew some did not understand her when she first came.
Before her journey to the United States, Strathearn was a physical therapist at home. She decided to teach at BYU when she studied abroad in Israel.
'I saw there was way more you can learn from a teacher than just from books,' Strathearn said. She has taught at BYU for about one and one-half years.
Choi, on the other hand, chose to teach at BYU after being encouraged by In Sang Han, who was a regional representative for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints at the time. Choi is the only Asian in BYU's religion faculty.
After converting to the LDS church, Choi lost his employment as a Presbyterian minister and as a university professor teaching courses in the New and Old Testaments, history of Christianity, world religions, Greek, Hebrew and Latin. He was named a heretic.
Choi said he likes to follow the maxim -- do in Rome as the Romans do. He has given up the lunar calendar and Korean festivals for the American ones because this is America.
Choi also does not mind people mispronouncing his name. He said if it is easier and more comfortable for Americans to pronounce it a certain way, it does not matter because he understands differences among languages.
Just as the international faculty encounters cultural differences, the students at BYU studying under them also see these distinctive traits.
Shelly Gonska, a sophomore from Southingtown, Conn. majoring in French, observes some differences between learning French from local French speakers and from the French themselves. She explained that all her French classes up until college level were taught by Americans.
'I had never really spoken to any French before, so it was hard for me to understand the accent. But it gets better after about two weeks,' Gonska said.
'My TA has inspired me with her experiences to go to France and be fully acquainted with the culture,' Gonska said.
Although both students and teachers from disparate cultures and countries note distinct characteristics, they may find common ground in their opinion of BYU.
Choi summed it up saying, 'I don't think I can find a more beautiful, excellent or spiritual environment than this school's environment.'