This is part two in a two-part series on international tennis players at UB.
Many people can't imagine how difficult it is to move to a foreign country - a place away from close family, friends, and other loved ones.
However Buffalo, known affectionately by many as the "Ruff Buff," has proven to be the opposite. UB is hospitable and warm to its international residents, including members of its men's and women's tennis teams.
"Being so far away from home, I am able to take comfort in the fact that there are so many others on the team who are going through exactly what I am in terms of getting adjusted to life in the (United States)," said Tina Jacobs, a freshman tennis import from Singapore.
UB has been able to offer much more than camaraderie and a competitive tennis program. The academic programs have drawn in and kept busy some of Buffalo's finest athletes.
"One of the reasons Buffalo attracts many international students is an opportunity to attend a well-known and high quality higher education university that will help fulfill their own professional goals. That's the key," said Buffalo's men's tennis coach Russ Crispell.
The fact that international students live, play and study together makes for a very tight-knit group of students, and a much tighter group of friends.
This sentiment is also held by Ferry Kaisman, a men's tennis player at UB from 1999-2003, and joint holder of the record for singles victories with 64.
"(In America), the competition was a lot tougher than I thought it would be. In the juniors, it's not as serious. Playing in Buffalo was challenging, but it was more of a team environment. It was definitely a lot of fun," said Kaisman.
As much as foreign players love coming to Buffalo, their domestic counterparts enjoy the company and expertise their teammates have to offer:
"I love the experience I've had meeting people from different cultures," said co-captain of the men's tennis team, Nick Zieziula. "It's awesome to play with people who have different personalities and on-court styles. It adds to my own experience."
One of the main community-oriented opportunities available to foreign student-athletes at Buffalo to help them get involved with the UB community is "Bridge," an organization designed to support its non-American constituents. The main goal for "Bridge" is to help ease the transition for incoming freshman athletes and promote UB's diversity among its varsity teams.
"'Bridge' is for the athletes from different backgrounds and they all come together as a group and discuss different things," said UB's women's tennis captain Onessa Williams, a native of Guyana. "Our first event was the multicultural fair, and we had people make different types of food to expose people to different cultures."
However, as important as it is for foreign athletes to learn about American culture, it is just as important to take a little bit of home with you, according to Andreea Novaceanu of the women's tennis team.
"My parents and I communicate with e-mail and messenger, and they call me from time to time, but it's hard to be away from them ... when I see something that is familiar, I try to compare it to something from home," she said.
Novaceanu has adapted to American life, as she enjoys domestic bands such as Evanescence and Eternal, along with O-Zone, a group from her native Romania.
The United States and UB will continue to draw tennis players from around the world, as its proliferation as a true international sport is rivaled only by the desire for its diverse contingent to come here to study and play.
"The international students love UB because they love the community," said Buffalo women's tennis coach Kathy Twist. "They're really mixing well with others and they feel at home, much more so now than in the past."
