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Ask Tara: Relationship Advice from a Chinese and American Perspective

By Tara
Original article: http://blogs.voanews.com/student-union/2012/03/21/ask-tara-relationship-advice-from-a-chinese-and-american-perspective/

My best girlfriend, who is Chinese, is dating an American classmate. If you’ve been reading this blog, you already know that I am also dating an American, so she has been using me as her own personal relationship coach (which I am more than happy to be!).

I guess other foreign students might have similar situations if they are dating Americans, so I want to share our discussions with you guys. Also, the advice I would give if she was in China asking about a Chinese guy would be very different, so I’ll highlight the different reactions in China and the U.S. for the same situation.

Problem 1:

“We had a very romantic and intimate second date, but after that, he did not call or text me for three days! What is going wrong? Will he contact me again? If he won’t call me, should I call him?”

American answer: It depends on how much you like him. If you like him and want to hang out again, just call him and ask him out. Who cares!

March 22, 2012

1 note

Video

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)

Tags: china fitting in relationships international student

March 12, 2012

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Everything You Need to Know about Dating an American and Having the ‘Relationship Talk’

By Tara

Having lived in the U.S. for two years now, I have been experienced many firsts, but none of them compare to the first I experienced last week – my first Valentine’s Day. Well, the first Valentine’s Day I actually got to celebrate, anyway.

It is hard to believe that my first big day romance-wise happened in a country that I am not from and with a guy who is not Chinese. But I think it just made the whole thing fun, cool and memorable.

My friends were so surprised that at 24 years old I had never had a real Valentine’s Day, but I am pretty sure I am not alone (please LEAVE COMMENTS below if this year was also your first V-Day!).

Last Valentine’s Day, my friend told me not to be sad that I didn’t have anyone to celebrate with – when the time is right, it will exceed all your expectations. And he was right.

So let’s go back to talking about the big V-Day date, and chatting about some points that I think are interesting to share.

Ask Tara: Relationship Advice from a Chinese and American Perspective

Everything You Need to Know about Dating an American and Having the ‘Relationship Talk’

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