International House Berkeley

34 international affairs? Some were in political science: Nancy was in political science; Rollo Rush was in political science. Were there any clubs inside the I-House? There were language tables — that was one thing. Oh, and the folk dance class. The teacher was very strict. Her incantation was — I remember her telling people: "Stop fooling around! So we can start having fun here!" I did not take part in that, though. I found it very amusing, but I was not big on folk dancing. Were there any poetry clubs? I don't think so. A lot of people played bridge. It was not a club, but there were real cutthroat bridge sharks, like Gene Horwitz. They would play in the library, I think, and they would play after meals and after dinner and after lunch. I was not that good at bridge, and I wouldn't have dared get near one of their games. I had a wonderful Chinese roommate one semester, Betty Wong. Her family was from mainland China, but forced to go to Taiwan. Her father was a businessman. She was majoring in sociology. Betty went on to do graduate work at Case Western Reserve, I think, and I lost track of her. While she was completing an undergraduate degree at Cal, she had to fulfill an American history requirement. I realized, when she asked me some of the questions, how hard it was for her. She would ask, "What's the constitution?" or, "What's Massachusetts?" And I realized, she was starting from someplace else. She was bright, and she did it. And, of course, I was in awe of anybody who could use a Chinese dictionary! Chinese students? Among them were Wen Yen Wei and her twin sister, Wen Chou Wei. Wen Yen married Milton Leong. What was the influence of I-House as a whole on my life? How would I put it? Most of the friends that I have kept are from that period. I've made friends since then, but I see almost no one that I knew as an undergraduate or from high school. There are one or two people I keep up with, but not in the way I do with I-House friends. You know, with I-House it's not hard to stay in touch because everybody is in touch with everybody else! There were "groups" at I-House, of course: there were Latin-American students; there were Asian students; there were Scandinavian students. They wouldn't necessarily mix as whole groups — but some from this and some from that. You know Ingrid Borland and Terje Jacobsen — we "infiltrated" their groups. There were the Indians; and then the British, like Chris Reid, and Geoff Wilkinson — he went on to win a Nobel Prize in chemistry. Was it difficult for the foreigners to decide to stay here or go home? Yes, I think so. Some really were on a mission to go back and help their country. And they did! Some

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