From the heart of Western Kenya, Steven Odhiambo came to study computer aided drafting and design at Missouri Southern.

For the past year and a half, Odhiambo has been able to take in all that U.S. culture and lifestyle has to offer.

Comparing Americans to Kenyans, he said teenagers dress the same, Kenyan adults are more conservative, but there are the traditional people in Kenya.

“It’s so different,” he said, “We have different cultures. The lifestyle is different. [Joplin is] a small town comparative to where I’m from.”

Odhiambo said his hometown of Nairobi has a slightly different consumer market.

Instead of one Wal-Mart store, there are several supermarkets, the “middle-man” shops, then smaller stores where you can purchase things on the smaller scale, called kiosks. The Kenyan market is based on the local consumer.He has traveled to England and Australia to visit friends and relatives and to South Africa to study.

He said it’s easier to study in the United States because it’s more affordable as well as flexible. Here, students are allowed to expand their course schedule as to how they want unlike in Kenya where things are heavily restricted to the area of study.

He has several friends and relatives living in the United States who came here to study. So far, they have settled in Springfield, Minnesota, Kansas and Ohio.

“The life here is more laid back, you know? I’m from a big place where there is lots of things to do and so much going on at the moment,” he said. “Population is way up there, but here it’s like population is just average. Not much crime around. People are sociable and all that.”

Under Odhiambo’s accent, he said he has not really faced any language barrier issues. Since Kenya was colonized by the British, citizens speak with a British accent. English is taught throughout grade school along with Swahili and a mother tongue, or native language.

“Our accent and American accent are a little different,” Odhiambo said. “Ordering on the phone can get tricky.”

Kenya has more than 20 languages, depending on the part of the country. Odhiambo speaks not only Swahili and English, but his Mother Tongue of Luo.

Food is a great passion of Odhiambo. He and his roommate, also from Kenya, alternate cooking native meals for one another.

“(The food) is way much better than what you have here,” he said. “We don’t eat fast food. We cook fresh food.”

He and his roommate take international cuisine into account as well. They go to restaurants in town that serve meals that aren’t American.

He said they try a lot of different food that seems interesting.

He also notices a different social lifestyle living in the United States. Back home, he and his friends would have cookouts and drink, but here there are many restrictions. December’s sunny weather allows for many celebrations to occur in Kenya.

“It’s more fun hanging out back home than it is here,” he said.

Still living in Kenya are his mother, father, brother and sister.

“They’re still thinking about coming [to the United States],” he said. “They might go somewhere else or England.”

After studying at Southern, Odhiambo plans on traveling the world. He wants to go to other countries and study culture and lifestyle.

“I’m open minded to what I want to do,” he said. “At the end of the day, I still want to go back home.”