Weekly Hornet

Issue date: 9/26/07 Section: Local

Media Credit: Nicole Diamond

The International Student Center organizes several events throughout the semester to help foreign students get to know one another in and their new home, Southern California.

The third event that the ISC organized for the fall semester was a day for students at the "Entertainment Capital of L.A." Universal Studios, Hollywood.

Known for putting visitors behind the scenes of some of their most famous movies, Universal Studios, Hollywood is a destination that all of the participants were looking forward to seeing.

The visit to Universal Studios began as all of the students headed to the newest park attraction, the House of Horrors. Walking through corridors that are haunted by characters from several famous horror movies, every single one of the students got scared at least once.

As they walked through the park after their visit to the House of Horrors, the students made a point to stop by as many attractions as possible while at Universal Studios.

The gunshots and attacks of the 3-D Terminator show distorted their ability to distinguish between reality and fantasy, and the 84-foot vertical drop down a waterfall in Jurassic Park soaked everyone while they enjoyed the ride.

"I really liked [the Terminator] because it was very realistic and both [the] stage and sound effects were good," said Mark Hiroshi Okumori, one of the group who went up to Universal Studios.

A visit to the "Backdraft" stage gave them insight into how special effects are used in movies to create some dramatic scenes using fire. They listened to some of the actors from "Backdraft" explain how they were involved in these exciting scenes and watched an entire room go up in flames in minutes.

After the excitement of the "Backdraft" scenes, the group headed over to the "Revenge of the Mummy" attraction and enjoyed it not once, but twice.
Several students were excited to see photos of them screaming while on the ride.

The studio tour was next on the list. The students passed by the Bates Hotel from "Psycho," experiencing loud explosions, flames, fog and even the effects of a tidal wave.

Seeing the shark from "Jaws," dinosaurs, King Kong and Wisteria Lane, from "Desperate Housewives" gave everyone an authentic Hollywood experience.
The tram ride passed through an original movie set from Steven Spielberg's motion picture "The War of The Worlds." Passengers were able to see a small town that has been devastated by a Boeing 747 airplane crash.

All of the participating students spent a wonderful day getting to know each other better.

"It was a really fun day," Okumori said. "It was a good opportunity to meet people and to see different cultures."

From the start of the fall semester, the ISC staff has been hard at work entertaining the students. For the group of students here at FC for the 2007-2008 school year, they have hosted an official welcome dinner and even a beach bonfire.

In addition to events for the international students on the FC campus, the ISC provides immigration advice, academic counseling and many other services.

It is the responsibility of the ISC to help these international students really enjoy themselves and make the most of their time spent in both Fullerton and the United States.

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