Page 8 - Flathead Beacon // 11.20.13

8 | NOVEMBER 20, 2013
NEWS
FLATHEADBEACON.COM

Bowler Bahlol Khan delivers the ball to batsman
Taven Edland as Khan teaches a group of
neighborhood friends how to play cricket at
Soroptimist Park in Whiteish on Nov. 13. Khan,
16, is an exchange student from Pakistan. He is in
the senior class at Whiteish High School.
GREG LINDSTROM | FLATHEAD BEACON

gion. In doing so, he will also divest him-
self of misunderstandings he has about
American culture.
“I hope to clear the stereotypes
about my country,” he said. “I wanted to
change the perception of other commu-
nities about my nation and being an ex-

change student gave me an opportunity
to do that. In addition, it also gave me the
chance to learn about others’ cultures.”
But Khan is unique, and it’s not his
ethnicity that sets him apart from Amer-
ican students, nor his penchant for Paki-
stani food and sport, nor his religion.
Rather, it’s his passion for and commit-

ment to broadening cultural awareness
between two countries rife with skewed
beliefs about one another.
In Pakistan, three common stereo-
types about Americans are that “they
drink a lot of alcohol, dress in inappro-
priate clothes and don’t know how to

dance,” Khan said.
So far, the only pigeonhole that Khan
Cultural Exchange
has found to be somewhat true is the
lack of dancing skills.
“I went to a high school dance and
they were just moving their hands,” he
said, adding that his father taught him
traditional dance at a young age.

Pakistani student works to educate peers, dispel To accomplish his goal as an emis-
sary, Khan recently delivered more than
stereotypes and misconceptions about Islamic culture
30 presentations across the valley in
about a week, appearing in classrooms
at Muldown Elementary School, White-
ish High School, the Whiteish School
Board, Whiteish Middle School, Deer Pakistani version of pizza, which he says improve communication between the
Park School, Kalispell Montessori El- By TRISTAN SCOTT of the Beacon
is superior. He prefers cricket and soccer United States and Muslim countries.

ementary, Columbia Falls High School, At irst blush, Bahlol Khan has all to traditional American sports and has The program is funded through the U.S.
the Whiteish Library and Flathead Val- the earmarks of an average, ordinary an encyclopedic knowledge of the his- Department of State and provides schol-
ley Community College.
teenager.
tory, politics, government and culture of arships for high school students from
He also gave a cricket demonstration A senior at Whiteish High School, he his native country, Pakistan – a wealth countries with signiicant Muslim pop-
at Soroptimist Park in Whiteish, wield- likes to watch and play sports, just like of information he’s been enthusiastical- ulations, allowing them to spend a full
ing a cricket bat and ball.
a lot of American students. He greets his ly sharing with scores of Flathead Val- academic year with a host family in the
Although the national sport of Paki- friends by slapping them high-ive, eats ley residents since arriving in Montana U.S.

stan is hockey, which Khan’s host family pizza and has college and a future career three months ago.
Khan’s mission, he says, is to repre-
is passionate about, he doesn’t enjoy the on the brain (he’s contemplating both Khan came to America as part of sent Pakistan as an ambassador and ed-
sport because he says it lacks discipline. political science and nuclear physics).
the Youth Exchange and Study (YES) ucate Americans about Islamic culture
Cricket is the most popular game in Pak- But unlike his American peers, the program, which was established after while dispelling stereotypes and mis-
istan, and while Khan plays soccer he
17-year-old exchange student favors the
the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001 to
conceptions about his country and reli-

New Beginnings

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