FOREIGN EXCHANGE: INTERNATIONAL WEEK '93 BEGINS AT SOUTHEAST

Petra Wenninger misses outdoor cafes, the Munich museums and hearty German bread, but most of all "my mom's cooking."

Haider Abdulrahman, a Tanzanian, also has found food a major adjustment of coming to America.

"We don't eat pizzas and tacos and those things," the 18-year-old Abdulrahman said.

Wenninger and Abdulrahman, both exchange students at Southeast Missouri State University, will get a chance to taste some home cooking during the upcoming International Week '93 activities at Southeast Missouri State University.

Many of the university's 415 international students who represent 47 countries are helping stage the nine-day event, which is sponsored by the Campus Assistance Center.

The week will begin Saturday with a talent show and climax March 28 with a dinner of ethnic foods. Among the activities in between will be a World Game Workshop - an international problem-solving game atop the world's largest map (see related story).

International Week '93 also will offer a chance to visit a Japanese teahouse and an international bazaar. All events are open to the public and are free except the talent show and dinner.

"The purpose is to raise awareness, to educate and to entertain," said Margaret Popham, assistant director of the Campus Assistance Center.

For the international students themselves, "It's a celebration of their own their heritage and their culture," Popham said.

The 20-year-old Wenninger came to the university because her mother studied here 30 years ago and her two older sisters also were Southeast students. She has been away from home seven months.

Her first week in Cape Girardeau, she wondered at all the people saying, "Hi, how are you?"

"I didn't know it was a greeting," she said.

"...People are very friendly."

The differences between the two cultures have added to "being the first time alone, and being responsible for everything," Wenninger.

Because she is the only German student at the university, she has befriended both other international students and Americans. "It has been a great experience getting to know people in America," she said. "It makes me more open to other opinions."

Wenninger, a freshman with an undeclared major, is in charge of publicity for the week, and also will provide the dinner with a recipe for rote gruetze, a favorite dessert made with raspberries, cherries and strawberries.

Biriyani, the yellow rice eaten all over Asia and Africa, is a food Abdulrahman misses, and goat meat, but he has had to handle religious as well as cultural differences in America.

Other Muslims in his homeland currently are observing the month of Ramadan, a period of daily fasting when people leave work early.

But coming to a comparatively less conservative Western society has not been a great shock to him, Abdulrahman said.

"I was expecting much worse.

He said any jolts have been lessened by his host family. "They have been very kind to me."

Abdulrahman, a sophomore studying management, is the chairman of the bazaar committee and the T-shirt committee for International Week.

The festivities begin at 7:30 p.m. Saturday with an International Show at Academic Auditorium. The performances will include Malaysian and Indian dances, Japanese songs and a Turkish guitarist. Admission is $2.

From 11 a.m to 1 p.m. Sunday, Japanese students and Japanese residents of the community will present an authentic Japanese teahouse. The highly ritualized tea ceremony will be conducted in the University Center Private Dining Room.

Ten people at a time can observe the ceremony.

The teahouse will be presented again from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. Monday. Members of the Japanese community living in Perryville are helping organize the event.

Also on Monday, ethnic foods, clothing and other items will be sold from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. in an international bazaar in the University Center Lobby and Program Lounge.

The day will be capped at 7 p.m. by a panel discussion about American culture. The discussion will be held in the UC Missouriana Room. "Most Americans don't even realize there is an American culture," Popham said.

On Tuesday, Peter Burtchell of the Cousteau Society will give a lecture on international environmental issues. Burtchell is a former National Park Service ranger and naturalist whose assignments have included Yellowstone National Park, Everglades National Park and the Statue of Liberty-Ellis Island National Monument.

He is proficient in several languages, including sign. The lecture will begin at 7:30 p.m. in Academic Auditorium.

The World Game workshop, a simulation of global interactions carried out on a basketball court-sized map, is the main event scheduled for Wednesday. The World Game will begin at 6:30 p.m. in the UC Ballroom.

From 10 a.m to 2 p.m. Thursday, March 25, students from India, Sri Lanka, Pakistan and Nepal will offer ethnic foods and displays in the UC Lobby.

At 7 that night, Culture Junction, an organization sponsored by the Baptist Student Center, will sponsor an international celebration.

The Wesley House will show international films throughout the day Friday, March 26.

International Week '93 will conclude on Sunday, March 28, with a dinner and dance in the UC Ballroom. International students will prepare a multitude of ethnic dishes for the dinner. "The emphasis is on food and conversation," Popham said.

The dinner will be held at 7 p.m. Admission is $9.50.

A dance with a sound system will follow the meal.