International House Berkeley

67 Fraser's on Telegraph Avenue, Gertrud introduced Danish design of housewares to the Bay Area. Bob Wijsman was a physicist, and he had spent four years lying in hiding in his parents' attic because the Germans would have taken him into forced labor – he was about seventeen. At night he snuck out to the countryside, riding his bike for fifty miles for potatoes because the Dutch were starving. So, in my experience, there were these truly fascinating foreigners. The Norwegian government rewarded its Resistance fighters with both scholarships and living grants for study abroad. By the way, all of them were fantastic skiers. They did not present themselves as heroes, but they were. One charming Indian was Moteelal Jagtiani. Motee went into marine engineering. When I was a graduate student in London, in '51-'52 – as were the O'Regans – Motee arrived at the docks, and he threw a party. Finding our way there through the dark dockyard was a real hazard. There were no lights! He was the fifth engineer on this ship – but he borrowed what must have been the chief engineer's cabin. He didn't drink, of course, but he somehow served us Scotch and hard-boiled eggs. Both Scotch and hard-boiled eggs – this was 1951 – were very, very rare! We sang Cal songs. Also there at the party was Arthur Fraser, a charming New Zealander. Then there was Olga Bocanegro – she was a mathematician from Puerto Rico. Beautiful and sweet Olga Bocanegro! She was gorgeous; she had brown skin suffused with a sort of apricot tone to it. So, who else? Oh, and Maideh Mazda. She was a glamorous creature! One time – it seems we triple-dated quite a lot because some of the men had sedans – this American fellow was driving. His name was Philip. Somebody else was Maideh's date, and when Maideh got into the car, Phil said: "Close the doors, so that smell does not seep." She was loaded with perfume. Who else? Milton Leong was certainly a major figure in I-House. Actually, Wen Yen lives just down the street. Milton was born, I think, in Oakland. Then, as was typical for Japanese and Chinese parents who could afford it, Milton's parents sent him to be educated in their own country. Milton was living in Tianjin, in the north of China. When the Japanese assaulted Tianjin, the Americans were in Chongqing, and somehow Milton walked from Tianjin all the way to Chongqing and surrendered to an American general. He wanted to fight with the Americans against the Japanese. He walked by night, and hid by day. Then, later, he was dropped behind the Japanese line in China. Because he was Chinese – of course his Chinese was perfect – the Japanese did not know that he was essentially a spy. Not only was it dangerous, but walking across half of China is sort of amazing too. Milton and Wen Yen both came and lived at I-House, and Milton became a total American, a total Cal rooter, with a Cal rooter cap. He also became a Rotarian. Wen Yen's twin sister, Wen Chao, married an American, Philip MacBride. Most of the Canadian and American economics students had either a research assistant or a teaching assistant position. An exception was an American who was turned down

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