Tony Williams, president of the Afrikan People’s Union. Michelle Pauiman/DN
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free of charge. Everyone is the same and
___________See CEE on 9
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COMING SOON TO A THEATRE NEAR YOU
Brian Shellito/DN
Scot faces ‘hugeness’ with chagrin
By Matthew Grant
Diversions Contributor_
Before I came to Nebraska a
friend said to me:
“Aaaayyyy, man, won’t it be so
mad when you get off the plane and
stand thereandthink: I’m in America
and I’m on my own."
“Yeeeaah," I said. The construc
tion was all over the place, but I
knew what he meant.
But as it turned out, I wasn’t on
my own. I was hung-over, ex
hausted and most likely smelling
lightly of vomit, but I was in good
company, at least, partly as a result
of smoking bans.
The poncy on the plane was to
confine smokers to the smallest,
least desirable area possible.
Had smoking been banned, the
three of us may well have been
strained and irritable wrecks for the
eight hour flight.
As it was, sitting in the plane’s
rear-most seats without even a win
dow to peer ou t of, we had nothing
bettertodothansocialize. Weprob
fered cigarettes, relaxed and flicked
ash into half-empty plastic cups.
We talked about travel and drank
everything that was offered — un
til, a Iter passi ng over some a rbi tra ry
line in the air naif-way across the
Atlantic, I experienced a rebirth as a
minor and the hostesses refused to
serve me anymore.
'‘You can have a pop,” they said.
“A what?”
“A pop! — soda?” came the
drawled reply.
"Oh, no, thanks," I said, “I’m not
thirsty or anything.”
A few hours later this appeared
to have been a blessing in disguise.
One of my traveling companions, a
middle-aged farmer on his way to
visit his daughter in New York —
who had had a glass of Scotch glued
to his palm since take-off— unex
pectedly, sat up, grabbed for a sick
bag and attempted to regurgitate
into it.
My other traveling companion, a
fellow Scot off to study in Illinois,
jumped up to get paper towels while
a crowd of air-nostesses formed
around us to make condescending
noises: those damned smokers....
Wherever you’re from, it would
be difficult to know nothing of
American culture. As a European,
certainly, I hadseen countless Ameri
can moviesandTVshowsandeaten
in at least a few fast-food chains.
But nothing can quite prepare
you for the experience of actually
being somewhere.
My first thought on landing in
Chicago was not as my friend had
suS8esled. There was this highway
running past the airstrip: look at
those cars, I thought, they’re huge.
Of course, I had known before I
came here that American cars are
big — but seeing them for real for
the first timesomehow made it seem
very different.
By the time I had passed through
immigration I was beginning to feel
like Gulliver in Brodinngbad. Ev
erything seemed to have doubled
in size.
/ ordered my ‘pop. * /
asked for a medium,
but they gave me a
huge anyway.
Feeling disorientated, I lit an
other cigarette.
“Put that out!” bellowed a
huuuuugggeee security guard with
a gun on his hip.
“Sure thing,” I said and scurried
off between his legs.
Once 1 got deep insideO’l lare, I
bega n to bel ieve I wou ldn ’t ever get
out. Everyone 1 asked told me to go
a different way. I ran backwards
and forwards, up and down and
round in circles— changing from
Gulliver to the March 1 lare in “Alice
In Wonderland."
I’m late, I’m late....
Eventually, though, I got to the
right bay — only to find the plane
wasn’t leaving for another hour. To
kill time 1 went to buy a ‘pop.’
The selection of food in front of
me was unbelievable. Everything
had grown in size again. There was
an enormous pizza and rows and
rows of huuuuugggeee,
huuuuuuugggggeeeec cakes and
cookies.
I ordered my ‘pop.’ I asked for a
medium, but they gave me a huge
anyway.
“Have a nice day,” mumbled the
cashier, looking as if she was about
to die of exhaustion.
1 was about to die of exhaustion
myself, but I didn’t want to sleep,
lest I miss the announcement for my
flight. In the seat opposite me an
American lifeguard was berating
Europe in a loud voice to anyone
who would listen. “Anyone” was
another lifeguard and his trainee
lifeguard son who were sitting in
the same bay.
“I went from Brussels, that’s in
Belgium, to Paris, that’s in France,”
said the first lifeguard. “It’s like be
ing back in the ’50s, everyone in
leather jackets, with theirgirlfriends.
Then we went to Amsterdam, that’s
in Holland .. . I’m sorry if I annoy
you by telling you what country a
city’s in, it’s just a habit I have_"
It’s a standard part or culture
shock to feel hostility toward na
tives of the foreign country, but I’m
fairlysurel would havedisliked this
individual at any time.
I definitely should have slept on
the plane to Nebraska, but a large
amiable Texan sitting next to me
forced me to drink beer with him
instead. Bylhetimewehadlanded,
things had taken on a dream-like
quality.
There were two other interna
tional students arriving that same
evening. We were met and given a
brief tour of Lincoln before being
taken to our dorms. •
My only real memory of that pe
riod is the feeling I was not really in
America at all, but on a movie set.
Having seen so many American
movies, the real America appeared
like a parody to my bemusea brain.
Essentially I was already asleep.
A while later, I finally found my way
to a bed and instantly collapsed on
top of it.
I’m in America, I thought, and I’m
on my own.
_BUjana Obradovic, President of the International Student Organization!'0^ "C * llman r
Lee
Continued from Page 8
should be treated equally.
But these things happened in
Lincoln:
Anthony L. Williams, president
uf the Afrikan People’s Union, was
chased by a car filled with white
men while riding his bicycle at 19th
and Vine streets. They shouted ra
cial slurs at him For no reason, he
said.
Biljana D. Obradovic, president
of the International StudentOrgani
za tion, sa i d six Indi an stu dent’s were
made to leave the Reunion last year
while havinga drinking party there.
The Indian students went to the
International Student Organization
for help. They felt they had been
discriminated against.
With the help of International
Student Organization, the students
got redress. The Reunion owner
apologized in print in the Daily
Nebraskan.
Obradovic, from Yugoslavia, is a
teaching assistant from the English
department. She said she thought
discrimination was a big issue on
campus.
Williams agreed. Racial slurs de
velop a feeling of haired, he said.
See LEE on 11
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