Culture Clash in Iowa The town where bubble tea shops outnumber Starbucks - CNN
Iowa City, Iowa. Bubble tea shops outnumber Starbucks 3 to 1, and nearly 1 in 10 students at the University of Iowa hails from China. Iowa City has gone global. Mixed in with the souped-up Ford F-250s and Dodge Ram pickups preferred by natives are Maseratis, BMWs, Audis and Mercedes-Benzes. Chinese students pay an estimated $70 million a year in tuition to the University of Iowa and pump an estimated $100 million into the local economy. They've become such a financial boon they help subsidize the education of their American peers. The dramatic rise in Chinese students -- from a few hundred in 2000 to more than 2,500 today -- has brought culture shock and a series of major challenges. A lack of dorm space resulted in hundreds of students, most of them from China, being warehoused eight at a time on beds in dorm lobby areas for weeks, even months. Many Chinese students struggled to speak English and cope with the demands of English-based curriculum. A mandatory program last fall meant to help international students better understand American culture failed miserably. "The international students hated it," says Ron McMullen, a visiting associate professor of political science and former U. S. Source: www.cnn.com
