Although I was born in a small country in Central America, I have been blessed with abundant opportunities to study in schools and universities around the world, including two years in a boarding school in Lake Placid NY, one year of High School in Germany, two years of college in Ohio, a summer in Beijing, one year at Cornell and the rest of my life has been spent in Guatemala, the “land of forests”.

I began studying Landscape Architecture at The Ohio State University, until my eagerness to see new places prompted me to transfer to Cornell, where I discovered the “gorgeous” landscapes of Ithaca and an academic and creative enthusiasm that prevailed in most of the students and professors I met. While in college, I have also allocated much of my time to the campus church, sports, student government, architecture and design clubs, singing clubs and the Hispanic and German communities.

This summer I spent in Guatemala City, working with a small landscape architecture firm, taking an architecture course and working on my thesis. I am extremely excited to become integrated with the student community of Alice Cook House and especially with students who are eager to learn Spanish and more about the Hispanic Culture. One proverb by which I have always lived is: Life is short, eat dessert first!

¡Nos vemos pronto!

Mika is not the typical Language House Native Speaker; she wasn’t born in Japan nor has she lived there formally. Mika was born and raised in Buffalo, NY to an American father and Japanese mother.

Thanks to her mother and the support of her father, she was raised with many Japanese influences. In fact, despite living in the US, Mika couldn’t really speak English until she started to attend kindergarten (after which her English greatly improved). Mika may never have lived in Japan, but every year she has spent two months during the summer in Japan, visiting relatives, attending school there, and traveling. She has dual American/Japanese citizenship.

In her spare time, Mika likes to paint/draw, ice skate, read, cook and watch Japanese “dorama”/drama and foreign films (especially Bollywood!). She also loves learning about different cultures. At Cornell she is active in the Japan US Student Association (“JUSA”) as the secretary.

Mika looks forward to living at the Language House and the wonderful opportunity of being Japanese Native Speaker.

In a world of color-coded and cross referenced box files that are organized in alphabetical order is a person who live in chaos, constantly misplacing her cell phone and room keys, which unfortunately just cannot be placed into a folder.

Born and raised in Amman, Jordan, Zein attended a small international school, which in combination with Jordan’s proximity to Africa, Europe and its central location in the Middle East has ignited a passion to travel, see the world and immerse in different cultures.

After graduating school she attended the University of British Columbia in Canada for a year prior to transferring to Cornell University in the fall of 2009. She is now majoring in Policy Analysis and Management in the College of Human Ecology.

With interests ranging from cooking, music, reading and playing tennis, what she enjoys most is any activity that involves good company. Zein is excited to be part of the Language House at Alice Cook house, and is looking forward to being the Arabic Native Speaker this year.

Hui Liu is from a place with an old name of dragon city in the northeast of China. She grew up there along the river until she went to Tianjin University. She received a bachelor’s degree in Optoelectronics when she was 18 years old. Hui Liu enjoyed life in Tianjin both for the delicious food and friendly people. After four years of study there, she went abroad to see another world and explore a new life independently here at Cornell.

Hui Liu is a big fan of skating, both roller and ice. Another time-killing habit is to sing freely and make noise by trying some singing techniques. She is also really interested in animals so Ithaca is a good place for her although she is more interested in large animals such as tigers. She is working on her PhD in Applied and Engineering Physics. She hopes to travel around the states during her time here and record all of the beautiful moments. She is looking forward to her new family at Alice Cook House with many new friends and hopes for a most exciting year!

Marion was born in Paris and lived in France until she was 12. In 2003, she moved to Scarsdale, NY and went to the French-American School. She then completed her high school at Edgemont High School. She always loves to travel and is so happy to have been able to be exposed to two different cultures when she was younger.

She is a sophomore in Human Ecology and a Biology and Society major. Marion is thinking about a career in international public health. At Cornell, she is a Kappa Delta sister and a member of P4HH and the Cornell Student Society for Public Health. She ran track and field in High School and loves to move around! She has serious coordination challenges but loves sports nonetheless.

Marion also love to cook and bake, learning from her mother, an incredible French cook. She is excited to be living in the Language House next year and share all that she knows and loves about France.