Minneapolis and St. Cloud Minnesota have large Somalian communities, and interestingly enough, I have two friends, both teachers, that have had experience with them, one in each place. One’s experience is overwhelmingly negative, while the others is the exact opposite, very positive. The one had problems because their Somalian students and parents absolutely refused to assimilate to American society and behavioral norms. The other found that the Somalian students in his class had a desire and thirst for knowledge far above the other students in his inner city school, and constantly were among the highest achievers. My own interaction has found a marked contrast to other refugee groups. The Vietnamese in the 1970’s came over here and outworked everybody around them and found their place in our society. I don’t pick up much interest in doing that from this group. A big part of the problem are the church and religious aid groups that bring in refugees, collect government money to do so and “aid” them, then do little to help them settle and assimilate. One or two follow up visits, then they are on their own, in a strange country with a strange language and completely different social norms. No wonder there are problems.