Resources
CU International is here to help you. For starters, you can browse through the list of helpful people, refer to our etiquette guide, or go to the websites for ISSS and OIE.
Helpful People
CU International members try to be available to international students whenever they might be needed. If you're looking for help, try emailing or calling any of the CU International members below.
However, if you have questions involving the International Coffee Hour or are interested in collaborating with CU International, please contact Janet Garcia at janet.garcia@colorado.edu.
| Brenda Black | USA | F | brenda.black@colorado.edu | 303-570-0870 |
| Mohit Singh Chhabra | India-ish | M | mohitsc@gmail.com | 720-251-3561 |
| Samik Dasgupta | India | M | d.samik@gmail.com | 303-818-0796 |
| Stirling Gibbs | USA | F | stirling.gibbs@gmail.com | |
| Alexandra Herrera | USA | F | alexandra.herrera@colorado.edu | 805-390-9858 |
| Lauren Huibregtse | USA | F | Lauren.Huibregtse@colorado.edu | 970-227-1221 |
| Nina Jagtiani | Germany | F | Nina.Jagtiani@colorado.edu | 720-304-8686 |
| Daniel Levinson | USA | M | Daniel.Levinon@colorado.edu | |
| Rommel Moreno | Mexico | M | rommel.moreno@gmail.com | |
| Jennifer Newell | USA | F | jmnewell@gmail.com | 773-809-5280 |
| Ifeyinwa Okoye | Nigeria | F | okoye@colorado.edu | |
| Alana Tempest-Mitchell | USA | F | tempestm@colorado.edu | |
| Philipp Wetzler | Germany | M | philipp.wetzler@colorado.edu | |
| Mike Wilson | USA | M | michael.c.wilson@colorado.edu | |
| Tianhao Zhang | China | M | tianhao.zhang-1@colorado.edu |
If you'd like to learn a little more about some of the CU International members, you can read their personal introductions below.
Brenda Black
I grew up in the Boulder area and am currently doing graduate work in German at CU. I've studied a number of languages (German, Latin, Greek, Russian, and a bit of French) but am always eager to explore others. I also enjoy reading, hiking, sewing, and going to the theater. I'm interested in meeting new people and would be happy to help any way I can.
Mohit Singh Chhabra
I graduated from CU in August 2007 with my masters in CEAE with a specialization in solar energy. I live and work in Boulder. I have been a part of CU International from Jan 2006 and will be a part of it for a long time. Be sure to get in touch with me if you need any help.
Alexandra Herrera
Hey! My name is Alex and I'm from the Los Angeles area of California. I'm an undergraduate student majoring in International Affairs with a concentration in Asia. I've traveled abroad (on vacation) to England, France, and Italy and I plan on studying abroad in Japan. I love languages (I've studied Spanish and I'm currently studying Japanese), listening to foreign music, watching movies, reading books, traveling, and making new friends. Please contact me if you have any questions at all and I hope you enjoy your time here! :)
Lauren Huibregtse
Hello everyone! I'm an undergrad at CU double majoring in International Affairs and French! I'm a native Coloradoan, and I know the area around here really well! I'm a fan of frisbee, soccer, dancing, traveling, running, hiking, and particularly white water rafting! I know the mountains pretty well, and I'm always looking for an excuse to go up and see them some more! I've done language partners, and worked with CU International for the last year, and I know what a struggle it is to be dealing with all the college stuff in a foreign country! If you ever want language help, some familiarizing around campus or Boulder, or if you're simply looking for a new friend, give me a call!
Nina Jagtiani
Hi everybody and welcome to CU Boulder. My name is Nina, I'm a graduate student in the Department of Linguistics. Originally I'm from Germany. I came here in 2004 and since then I love it here. Even though Boulder is great for any kind of outdoor activity, there is a lot more to do, like having a glass of wine in one of the bars downtown or enjoying a movie. I like to socialize, to go out for dinner, reading, music and sports, like fencing and yoga. I also would like to check out tap dancing. Additionally, I'm very interested in learning foreign languages. In case you need help with anything concerning school or life in Boulder or you just want to hang out, please contact me.
Daniel Levinson
Howdy,
My name is Daniel Levinson. I am a Senior Studio Arts major with a certificate in the Technology, Arts, and Media program as well. I live to travel, meet people, cook, and create. My family is all from Colorado, so this place is home. But, I have a long long list of places to visit next, as I am constantly looking for excuses to travel. Road trip anyone?
Jennifer Newell
Hi, I'm Jen. I'm Filipina-American and grew up in Colorado, however I consider Chicago to be 'my' city. I work downtown as a marketing analyst but I am still active in CU International. I attended CU as an undergrad for degrees in media studies and history and a minor in Nordic Studies. I spent a year in Uppsala, Sweden, on study abroad. I love languages and speak Swedish, as well as some French, Tagalog and German. I spend a lot of my spare time going to concerts, and when I was a student, I used to drive for NightRide.
Ifeyinwa Okoye
Hi!!! My name is Ifeyinwa and I’m from Nigeria. I lived in Nigeria for 17 years before coming to the United States for college. I did my undergrad in Northern California (the bay area) then moved to Colorado for grad school. I'm a PhD student in computer science and cognitive science at CU. I love running, singing, dancing salsa, reading news and making new friends. Don't hesitate to contact me if you have any questions. Welcome to Boulder :-)
Alana Tempest-Mitchell
I am an undergraduate student at CU, originally from North Dakota, majoring in International Affairs. I studied abroad in Lancaster, England and lived in Edinburgh, Scotland for a few years. I'm learning Spanish and love movies, traveling, and meeting new people.
Philipp Wetzler
Hello! My name is Philipp, I'm from Germany (the Frankfurt area). I lived there for the first 23-or-so years of my life, then moved to Boulder to get my Masters and Ph.D. in Computer Science (my research areas are machine learning / natural language processing). In between I spent about a year working and traveling in Japan. I've been helping with organizing our Wednesday night dinners and various other events, so if you come to any of them you'll probably meet me (I'm the guy with the camera). And, of course, feel free to contact me with any questions!
Mike Wilson
I'm currently going into my 5th year at CU-Boulder, finishing up my degrees in History and Spanish/Portuguese Language and Culture. I grew up in Littleton, CO, which is about 45 minutes from Boulder. I currently have 2 on campus jobs, working security for the UMC and also working in the UMC Connection.
Tianhao Zhang
Hi, everybody. My name is Tianhao and I'm an undergraduate student at CU-Boulder. I'm double-majoring in computer science and applied math. I came to US in 2006 for study. I like to be social, going out for dinner, hanging out with friends, playing games and some more. Boulder is a great place for fun, if you have any questions, please don't hesitate to contact me.
Etiquette Tips
At most restaurants, you will receive a bill that looks something like this:
Burger $6.99
Fries $1.99
Soda $0.99
--------- ------
Sub-Total $9.97
Tax (8%) $0.80
--------- ------
Total $10.77
At the top, each item you ordered will be listed with a price. After all items, a sub-total is given which is the base cost of all your items. Tax of 8-10% is added to the sub-total to give the final total. The bottom total is the amount you need to pay, though see below for rules about tipping.
If you walked up to a counter to order your food, the total at the bottom of your bill is all you need to pay. If you're feeling generous, or the person who took your order was really nice, there's usually a jar marked "tips" nearby and you can leave up to a dollar or two in the jar.
If a waiter came up to you to take your order, as is typical in most sit-down restaurants, tipping at least 15-20% is expected. This amount is calculated off of the pre-tax sub-total of your items. So in the example above, the pre-tax sub-total was almost $10, so you should be adding $1.50-$2.00 to your total. For the bill above, a safe bet would be to leave an even $13.
Tipping in the US is not really optional like it is in many other countries because at sit-down restaurants in the US, businesses are allowed to (and do) pay their servers less than the minmum wage. It is assumed that the servers will make up the difference in tips. Currently, businesses can pay servers as little as $2.13/hour, while the minimum wage is $5.85! In Colorado, things are a bit better, but servers can still earn as little as $3.83, while the minimum wage is $6.85. Thus if you don't leave a reasonable tip, it can really be a big deal!
When you go out to a sit-down restaurant with friends, you'll often receive only one bill for everyone. (You can sometimes ask for separate bills, but this can be a lot of extra work for your server, and a few places don't allow it.) If you do receive a single bill, here are some guidelines on how to split it:
- Each person should add up the base prices for the items they ordered.
- Remember that tax is only calculated on top of the sub-total, so tax has not been added to your individual item prices. That means you need to add an additional 8-10% to the prices of your items to cover tax.
- Add 15-20% to cover the tip.
A safe bet is to add up the base prices of all the items you ordered and then add 30%.
Using the 30% rule will cover both the tax and the tip for your food. As an example, consider two people that went out for dinner. one had a $6.99 burger, and one had $1.99 fries and a $0.99 soda. The burger person should add:
$7 * 3 / 10 = $2.10
The fries-and-drink person should add:
$3 * 3 / 10 = $0.90
That means the burger person should pay a total of $9.09 which most people would round to $9. The fries-and-drink person should pay a total of $3.88 which most people would round to $4. Note that this results in paying $13 on the bill, the same amount calculated for the bill in the single-person Tipping section above.
There are differences in tipping behavior in different social groups. If you spend time with regular CU International members, most people will follow the 30% rule above. In other social groups, people may tip more or less. If you're uncertain, just ask!