As I sat down with my friend Jason Tai and one of his fellow foreign-exchange students, Emily Lee, both from Taiwan, I was interested in learning more about their experiences, what activities they enjoy and their overall thoughts of life here in Minnesota.

Early on I got the impression that both Jason and Emily liked living in Minn. When asked how they have enjoyed their experience so far, they answered with similarly.

“In Minnesota, I don’t feel racial discrimination. People here are friendly and very nice, if I have a question, they help a lot,” Jason said.

“So far, so good. Minnesota is nice. Students and teachers are very friendly, especially when I go to the Residential Restaurant. The cooks and chefs explain what the food is. The teachers are very good – they speak slowly so we understand, it is very considerate,” Emily said.

Also shared were some of the activities they enjoy.

“[I’ve tried] a lot of things [such as] outside BBQ, playing football and Frisbee. We play different card games, we played a lot of games we never tried before.  Watching the dramas—it’s fabulous—in Taiwan we seldom see plays. And the students’ performance is really good. It’s a lot of interactive performance; they care about the audience. The teachers are also more caring of students too,” Emily said.

There are some activities that they would also like to see more of.

“I hope this school has a Rock-and-Roll department…,” Jason said.

Upon hearing this from Jason, I couldn’t help but think how two different people from very different countries and backgrounds could be wishing for the same thing.

I agree with John Denver when he said, ““Music does bring people together. It allows us to experience the same emotions. . . . No matter what language we speak . . . music proves: We are the same.”