I had a friend, another American, who was also moving into I-House that same September. We requested to room together, but, instead, I was paired up with Oscar, a chemical engineering major from Argentina.

Oscar wasn’t my friend Paul—and I guess that’s the whole point of the International House. I realized I might be living with a foreigner when I applied there. After all, it is the International House. Still, I picked this place to live not because of the enlightening experiences being with people of other nations might bring—I figured I had already been through all that, having grown up near a Canadian family in Pacific Palisades—but because the food was better than what I had eaten the previous year in Unit III.

It turns out that Oscar’s roommate wishes had also been denied. At that point, Oscar hadn’t known many Americans. And he was certain that all Americans—or at least all of us at UC Berkeley—were drug users. He wanted to stay away from that and, as I learned much later, had requested “anything but an American” for a roommate. Instead, they gave him me. I guess that too was the International House making a point.

So there we were, together in Room 524, two people from different parts of the world—two points being made to each other. The mission of Berkeley I-House, built with funds donated by John D. Rockefeller, Jr., is to bring together those of different nationalities to “foster peaceful interaction, understanding and friendship among people of all races, nations and cultures.”

From the start, Oscar and I embraced these ideals of international cooperation. During our first term as roommates, Oscar took an English class while I took intermediate Spanish. At the end of the day, back at I-House, Oscar would be at his desk writing my Spanish paper while I sat close by writing his English paper.

I’m not certain that this is what Mr. Rockefeller had in mind when he founded I-Houses around the world —but it sure worked nicely for the two of us. We both got A’s in our respective language classes.

The friendship Oscar and I established during our two years as roommates has survived the many changes in our lives. After graduating from Berkeley, Oscar lived in Chicago, Santa Barbara, Switzerland, and is now in Gainesville, where he is a professor of chemical engineering at the University of Florida. For me, since Berkeley I have spent time in New York, Sacramento, Tokyo, and finally Los Angeles, where I landed after law school. Through all the moves and years since we lived together, the spirit of cooperation and friendship built at I-House continues to this day. I have helped Oscar with several legal issues he and his family have faced. And I know Oscar is there for me whenever chemical engineering problems pop up in my life.

Last year, Oscar was the best man at my wedding. In January of this year, I was the best man at his wedding. On both occasions, I thought quite a bit about how fortunate it has been for me that someone at the I-House office put Oscar and me together just to make a point.

These days, Oscar and I no longer need to help each other with the subtleties of Spanish and English. We also don’t talk much about the many things that make us different from each other—we covered all those topics a long time ago. In fact, we no longer even think much about the fact that we come from different parts of the world. Oscar and I are just best friends.

So the point the International House was trying to make has been made—and the point has been well taken.

Chet Olsen ’81 is a corporate attorney in Los Angeles. In further pursuit of international good will, he met his wife-to-be while living in Japan. Oscar’s wife is French.

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