Lawrentians abroad: travel notes from the past – Rachel Hoerman Students from the Lawrence community have been going abroad for decades. Fantastic, wonderful, and all-around charming Lawrence students have recorded their experiences for ***The Lawrentian*** through the years. Here then, are various accounts of Lawrentians long-graduated, and their time spent away from the infamous “Lawrence Bubble.”
Student Sees Vietnam War As A Tragic ‘Way of Life’
(Saturday, October 16, 1965 Volume 90-No. 4)
***The following was excerpted from a longer article that appeared in The Lawrentian, and was written by Elmira Kendricks, who visited Vietnam with a group of students and religious leaders in an effort to seek a peaceful resolution to the armed conflict going on while they were there.***
“Perhaps the most influential thing that we learned in our visit to South Vietnam is that the war is real. Twenty-five years of war is too long. The consequences of this long period of war have touched each village, each family, and each person in Vietnam. War has become the normal way of life for the nation.
Small children in areas controlled by the Vietcong now learn how to set land mines to blow up South Vietnamese government troops. Families of South Vietnamese soldiers live in the foxholes with the soldiers, and during battle in the camp areas a wife must divide her energies between watching her children and loading ammunition clips for her husband.
Saigon’s new lullaby is the sound of distant “harassment” mortar fire combined with rock and roll music that spills out from the new crop of bars and nightclubs that cater to the U.S. soldiers. During the day, Saigon’s normally heavy traffic is now complicated and halted by movement of troops and equipment through the city battle zones.”
Student Describes Study, Travel in Israel
(Saturday, January 15, 1966 . . . . . Volume 85 – Number 12)
***Pete Rabinowitz spent six months studying Hebrew language and culture with a group of British and American college students, an experience that was recorded by **Lawrentian** staff member Bonnie Bryant, and parts of which appear below.***
“Pete said that probably the most startling thing about the country is that it is not particularly religious. The percent of Orthodox Jews is surprisingly low.
Yet when the Sabbath begins on Friday evening, the entire country closes up shop, the buses stop running, construction is ceased, and ships wait in harbors with perishables to be unloaded.
One Saturday, he was riding a bicycle through Jerusalem and suddenly he found himself being stoned for his actions. Except for an occasional flying rock, Pete described the city as being “a deader town than Appleton.” In summation on the topic of religion he says that “if there is any religion at all it is nationalism.”
The people of Israel are driven by a great desire to become economically independent. This is an incredibly difficult problem because of the large numbers of people coming in and the small amount of natural resources.
Pere says that “The land is ripe for something to be done, and as you are working you get the felling of building a country.”
Lawrentian in Central America: Missing for Two Months, Our Man Checks In
(Friday, November 15, 1985 -XCXI – NO. 7)
***After neglecting to furnish any notification as to his whereabouts, ***Lawrentian*** staff member C.J. Laing finally checked in from South America, where he studied with the first group of Associated Colleges of the Midwest Students to go to Costa Rica. The following is part of what he had to say. **
“As I sit down in a filthy, run-down barrack-type room, the torrential rainfall pounding the thin tin roof, my thoughts travel back to Lawrence. Not really. What I’m really thinking about is the angry Lawrentian editor who has not yet received one article from his foreign correspondent in Costa Rica. But next week he can expect the first in a series of reports entitled: “CONTRA FOR A DAY: The Last Extermination Terminator Ninja Dragon Rescue Mission III.” (Video to follow shortly.)
Yes, the room described above does exist, and I am residing in it for six days. I am living on a large farm in the northeastern part of the country. I am living with the workers to try to get a feel for the rural life and the rural individual. My stay has been somewhat successful – at least I can talk to the workers during commercials.
Culture shock, at least up to now, has been the least of my worries. What I’m concerned with is cutting down the number of faux pas per day. How was I to know that the bowl of beans and the salad was for the entire table and just not for me? And how was I to know that you had to specify “without rum” when ordering a coke? And how was I to know that friendly, pretty, twenty year-old girls may have a husband and a child at home?”
Munich: Fond Memories Revisited
(Friday, January 17, 1986 – Vol. XCXI – No. 10)
**When 19 Lawrence students returned from a study seminar in the Bavarian region of Germany, they shared their experiences with ***The Lawrentian’s*** Julie Horst.
“In early October studies began in Munich, where all students lived with German families. Seminar participants took three classes while living in Munich: Post-World War II Political History, Art History, and a German literature class. All art history classes were held in various Munich museums. The group also had the opportunity to see performances of each play read in Mr. Gerlach’s literature class.
Munich provided excellent opportunities for instruction both in and outside the classroom. Cultural experiences enjoyed by all in Munich were semi-frequent visits to the Mathauser, the world’s largest beer hall, and the ever-popular Hobrauhaus.”