American students at Ohio University talk about why they do or do not make friends with international students, and how international students are viewed on their campus.
(via Why Aren’t Americans and International Students Becoming Friends? « VOA Student Union)
We did an anonymous survey to find out what Americans secretly think of international students (and vice versa). Here was one interesting result - Americans were slightly more likely to say they related well to international students, but were way less likely to have multiple cross-cultural friendships.
(via The Truth: Americans Reveal What They Really Think of International Students « VOA Student Union)
Forgot to post this when I found it last week, but it’s awesome. Click the link or video for full English translation.
(via Putting Aside What’s Comfortable to Do What’s Meaningful « VOA Student Union)
Michigan State University very bravely posted this video, featuring a candid discussion among Chinese students and American students about the challenges in forming cross-cultural relationships. It prompted a lot of discussion among our bloggers over the weekend.
One person said that they agree that it can be difficult to form close relationships because Chinese and American students don’t always share the same interests (like American football). Someone else felt disheartened to hear some of the opinions from the American students, saying that it should be up to the American students just as much as the Chinese ones to open up communication and start building relationships. And a third said that schools don’t always do enough to facilitate this sort of relationship-building.
Watch this video and see what you think. Does it leave you feeling positive or negative about relations between American and international students? What do you think these students could or should have done to improve communication? Leave a comment and let us know!
(via Whose Fault is it When American and International Students Don’t Mix? « VOA Student Union)
Originally posted at: http://blogs.voanews.com/student-union/2011/12/07/the-complications-of-friendship-in-america/
It occurred to me recently as I was sitting around the table having lunch in between classes that the vast majority of my friends in college are international students. Now, this is not to say I had been living in oblivion about this fact all this time, but rather I came to the realization that I ought to think critically about how and why this had happened.
Spending Thanksgiving with international student friends. But is it enough? (Photo by Simba)
It is, I think, a natural reaction for a person to gravitate towards the familiar when they are placed in an environment that highlights their exoticism. Being immersed in a new culture can provoke an inward obsession with identity. You begin to question who you are among those in your new environment, what you are doing there and the extent of your relevance. Suddenly, you begin to view the world through a completely different prism, one which highlights your differences and sobers you up to the fact that there is a rift between what you have always known and what you must now quickly learn in order to behave appropriately in a new society.
[Read more: Do International Students Fit In With American Classmates?]
Stories and advice about studying in the U.S. from current international students.
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