
85% of Chinese international students say they don't have one American friend - sprague
https://www.34st.com/article/2018/03/chinese-international-penn-isolated-social-culture-alone-feature
======
ksaj
In my school, the Chinese students grouped together, and the Vietnamese
grouped together. They stayed that way nearly exclusively, and picked on each
other relentlessly, refusing to speak any language (including English) among
each other except for their native language.

So at least with that experience, I'm not sure this is a Western problem. I
can't imagine that any white person would try to infiltrate and make friends
in either group considering how they were treating each other and being so
exclusive to themselves. And the fact that they purposely made sure nobody
"outside" the group could understand them.

Not only that, the Asians who _didn 't_ hang around in either of these tight-
knit groups were labelled something akin to "banana" \- white on the inside
and yellow on the outside - and taunted for trying hide their Asianness. It
all boils down to a solid confirmation that mixing wasn't allowed in _any_
direction.

Friendships are two-way endeavours. I'm not saying everyone self-segregates,
and I'm sure that even a lot of people who do actually wish they weren't doing
it. But it is so common that I think it is unfair to blame it on Western
culture.

~~~
JoeAltmaier
In my work experience, immigrants were just waiting for a native, any native,
to invite them. I've invited Engineer couples over for dinner from time to
time, and if they originated in other countries the common thread is, it was
the first time _ever_ they'd been invited by an American. Sometimes they'd
been in America for years.

~~~
ksaj
Agreed. There is a difference between people who come to the West on their own
accord to live and work, versus their children who basically have to move with
their parents, and are happy enough to take the path of least resistance when
it comes to making friends and acquaintances.

I used to board ESL students, and they worked extremely hard at communicating
with others without wrapping themselves in a cultural bubble.

Actually, we had lots of fun discussing similarities and differences for words
and concepts. I learned from a Korean boarder that English has gerunds. Funny
that I've used them all my life and it never occurred to me that there would
be a word for it.

------
mytailorisrich
For whatever cultural reasons Chinese abroad tend to stick with other Chinese.

Since there are many Chinese students in the US (and Canada, UK, etc.) they
often don't really interact much outside their circle of Chinese friends.

Now, of course it's not easy to move to a different country with a different
language and culture, but I think that the cultural aspect specific to Chinese
plays a significant part. I think Indians are somewhat similar in maintaining
a strong community among themselves when abroad.

In general, I would say that the best thing that can happen to you if you go
to study abroad is to end up being alone. That really forces you to integrate
with the local people, culture, and language, which I think is the whole point
of going abroad.

------
sprague
This has definitely been my experience. Language and cultural differences make
close friendships with US students difficult and International students are
often forced to associate with one another instead. A real tragedy when
many/most of these international students go back to their home countries.

------
president
Part of the reason is because the Chinese Students and Scholars Associations
(CSSA) on most campuses, who work tightly with the local consular offices
(read: CCP), dissuade Chinese students from mingling with foreigners lest they
become "brainwashed".

See [https://foreignpolicy.com/2018/03/07/chinas-long-arm-
reaches...](https://foreignpolicy.com/2018/03/07/chinas-long-arm-reaches-into-
american-campuses-chinese-students-scholars-association-university-communist-
party/).

