Brian Hu could feel like a fish out of water. He is 7,500 miles from his island home of Taiwan.
Hu, 19, is a Rotary exchange student in Iola since September. He was to have spent his exchange year in Moore, Okla., but the tornado that ravaged the town in May changed his plans mid-stream.
For several months Hu has been a guest in the home of Fred and Judy Works. The opportunity works both ways, Judy Works said, giving their son, Colby, a chance to have a brother again. Their older son, Dylan, is spending a year studying in New Zealand.
Friday night and Saturday Hu was in Harrison, Ark., in a get-together for Rotary Youth Exchange participants. A highlight was connecting with a handful of other exchange students from Taiwan. But, he was back in Iola in time for Iola High commencement exercises on Sunday.
Hu completed high school in Taiwan, a requirement for the exchange program, and attended classes at IHS during the just-completed year.
He immersed himself in activities as well as studies at Iola High, playing basketball for the first time and running track. His choice of sports in Taiwan is swimming, he told Iola Rotarians Thursday.
Works noted she and her family had tried to expand his world and “he’s expanded ours.”
Before moving in with the Workses, Hu stayed with the Rev. Gene and Judy McIntosh, whose son, Tyler, is an IHS senior.
HU GAVE a computer tour of his country, adding snippets of information.
As a student he was in school from 8:20 a.m. to 5 p.m. He commuted about 30 minutes to school in the Taipei metropolitan area.
Among his studies were math, science, Mandarin (Chinese) and English. Many Taiwan students embellish their English studies by way of American television programs, Hu said.
Taiwan is an island nation 240 miles in length and 90 miles wide with 24 million population, and is nestled about 100 miles off the coast of mainland China.
It is within the Circle of Fire, a huge arc that includes the west coasts of North and South America and in which earthquake are common. Most on Taiwan are not destructive, Hu said, registering 1 or less and seldom as high as 6 on the Richter Scale. A 6 is moderately destructive.
The densely populated country has mountainous regions, a wide variety of fruit grows there and wildlife has a presence, including deer and bear. Asked about hunting, with deer mentioned, Hu said hunting was not allowed because of population density.
As for food, Hu mentioned beef noodle soup, oyster omelets, steamed dumplings and, one of his favorites, stinky tofu.
The Taiwanese have cars, but also depend on public bus and rail transport, as well as high-speed trains that run the length of the country.
