AFS Students Visit Harvard, Surprised by College Lifestyle

"Malaysian people think Harvard students are snobby and weird because they go to the most expensive school and have to study so much," Poh Lin Khoo, one of a group of 76 visiting foreign high school students, said yesterday.

Partying until 4:30 a.m. yesterday morning convinced Khoo and other American Field Service (AFS) exchange students otherwise.

The students came to the U.S. this year via the AFS program to live with families in New England.

Togetherness

William M. Emmons III '81, a former AFS student who organized this year's gathering, said the program "brings people in the world together." The students arrived here Thursday night and will leave Sunday morning. They will visit the Harvard and Boston areas and meet Harvard Faculty.

The students are staying in dormitories with Harvard undergraduates, most of whom are former AFS exchange students.

Independence

One of the students, Msiwabantu B. Mnikina, a black South African, had a difficult time coming to America. In South Africa, where passports usually take a few weeks to process, Mnikina's was delayed for six months. Mnikina said authorities questioned him about his views on politics and apartheid.

Only So Close

Mnikina said he likes Harvard and the U.S. but does not find the racial harmony he expected. "The whites are willing to be friends but not close friends," he said yesterday.

More and More

The students who will meet this morning at Adams House, plan to make dinner and perform a cultural variety show at Jordan W Cooperative.