Korean students learn the cowboy way

Dorothy Jung and other cowboys broke into song as they stood near the campfire Sunday on a ranch east of Longview. They sang in Korean, but the words translated like any matter-of-fact song a cowboy might croon as raindrops began and a cool wind stirred. "It's like, 'It's windy, it's windy,' " Jung translated. "It's a Korean traditional song. It's not a cowboy song. We don't know anything about cowboys." The junior economics major at LeTourneau University knew more about cowboys than she and about 20 fellow exchange students had known that morning. A window on the West — the American West — opened for the Koreans on Sunday afternoon at rancher Jay Knight's spread. The cowboy-curious herd was corralled by the college ministry at Alpine Church of Christ, where they worship. "Handong University is kind of a sister university with LeTourneau," Alpine member C.B. Dixon said. "This is the first year they've come out here to this place." The students wore jeans, and many sported western hats. Each moseyed about the working ranch in sneakers — not a pair of boots among them...read more