Foreign Exchange Taiwan students study fitness, U.S. culture
Chen Tse-Yu came to Butler from Tai Pai, Taiwan, to exercise at an American YMCA. He wants to leave with the experience of a Burger King Triple Whopper.
The 23-year-old Chen and six other students traveled from the island off mainland China as part of their sports medicine studies with Chinese Medical University. The students, five women and two men, were joined by a professor as part of an international YMCAprogram.
The trip was organized through Sandra Ihlenfeld of the Butler County Family YMCA, who traveled twice in the past two years to Tai Pai as an international YMCA trainer. On those visits, she made connections that led to the visit from the medical students.
"Their visit here was an extension of my visit there," Ihlenfeld said.
The seven students will be helping in classes ranging from senior fitness to spinning.
While the students are here, Ihlenfeld is also working to see that this isn't the last visit. The students are touring Slippery Rock University and Ihlenfeld is trying to develop a program for schools to exchange interns.
The students are scheduled to work with senior citizens and take classes, like spinning, at the Y during the week. At home, they have completed or are just about to finish the four-year program.
Still, the students feel out of shape for the classes they are taking here, student Liu Shih-Yun said.
Liu and another student already work at the university's hospital in exercise therapy as they complete graduate coursework. Other students, such as Chen, are planning to enter into a doctoral program and eventually teach at a college in the United States or Australia, Chen said.
Aerobics and weight training aren't the only things they say they are excited about, though.
Assistant professor Wu Hong-Wen said a few of the students took a trip to Washington, D.C., in April. For most, it is their first trip to the country.
Liu said she is excited to go to Wal-Mart and see what about American culture is different from what she has experienced.
The students will also visit the Maridon Museum, Carnegie Science Center, Primanti Bros. restaurant in the Strip District and a Burger King.
One thing the students noticed in their first days is the rural nature of the area and size of homes, Wu said.
The students are being hosted at YMCA board member Patty Arnett's Center Township home.
"Where we are staying is very, very large," Wu said. "Taiwan is a small island."
Ihlenfeld said she noticed on her visits to Tai Pai that homes are built with multiple stories to fit more people on less land.
Several students also said they noticed Butler has friendly people who will smile or say hello on the street.
Ihlenfeld said people in Taiwan picked up a scrap of paper she dropped on the mass transit system and explained to her that littering would incur a large fine. She was also cautioned by people on the street if she were to walk in an unsafe area.
Ihlenfeld said Y members are curious and helpful to the students. Most people just want to know where Taiwan is, student Liu Wei-Fan said.
