<p>I just found out that my roommate is an international student. I am excited, but not sure about the overall experience. Has anyone had an international roommate before? If so, was it hard living with them as they adjust to new things, etc?</p>
<p>There are two Chinese international students in my department (my department is very small, around 20 people and we spend a ton of time together, music department is very close) and both of them have no sense of personal space. It drives me up the wall and the girl is always looking right over my shoulder at my computer screen something putting her face on mine. It drives me nuts. The boy is always sitting too close to people. I don’t know if this a culture thing or just a fluke with these two. </p>
<p>I would embrace their differences (hopefully them aren’t as extreme as my international “friends”.) My roommate was best friends with a girl from Africa and she was very sweet. Her biggest adjustment was figuring out some words for things (she called all drinks liquids and salads a lettuce). I think this might be a great learning opportunity and I hope it goes well!</p>
<p>My one roommate was Korean, but had lived in Australia for a few years and had excellent English as a result. We never found we had much for cultural barriers, and we got along great. We said hi when one of us got home, then did our own thing for a few hours. Then we’d chat for half an hour, then do our own thing again, then go to bed. All in all, an awesome roommate – better even than my first roommate, who’d go out partying all the time and leave me the room all to myself! :p</p>
<p>I have not had international roommates but I know people who have. It really depends on how much the roommate wants to integrate. At least at my school, some of the international students clique up with other international students and only use english when they have to, and others are really excited to be in America and want to be a part of the culture. Get in contact with your roommate via facebook and try to get an impression of what they’re wanting out of college.</p>
<p>I never had an international roommate before. Much to the fact that I’m a freshman, and housing details don’t get posted for my college until August.</p>
<p>But my brother had an international roommate in college, and was roommate for 2 years. The guy was British and I assume very wealthy. My brother got along well with him, but his roommate was out watching UK soccer very often. Thus, he talked to him only on occasions. My brother was only annoyed at his bodyguard that his dad send over once a month. He hated feeling as if the guy was staring at him the whole time.</p>
<p>In my first year there was a Dutch girl in our flat who was sweet and considerate, and a Kazakhstani* guy who smoked pot in his room (making the corridor stink) and brazenly stole food from the communal fridge. (i.e. entire ready meals, fillets of chicken, etc)</p>
<p>There can be a language barrier/social difficulties but it depends on the person.</p>
<p>*I had to google the spelling.</p>
<p>it depends. some people have great expierences. i had one for a semester. i wanted to choke him to death. needless to say we werent room mates the next semester. but be open minded, you might get an awesome one :)</p>
<p>International students are people too. You might get along great with them or they could suck - just like an American roommate. There might be some issues with cultural differences but I doubt that would influence your rooming experience unless you are incredible narrow-minded. Seriously though don’t think too much about it until you meet them.</p>
<p>The sense of personal space isn’t as prevalent outside of the States, so your roommate might seem to be a little too close, for a lack of a better word, but keep in mind that they grew up in a culture that doesn’t emphasize the personal bubble as much as culture in the United States does, and they might not be familiar with it yet. Be polite about it if it bothers you. You have as much luck as getting an awesome roommate as a terrible one.</p>
<p>My freshman floor had some suites where the roommates never spoke to each other, and the awkwardness was noticeable in the air, and others where the roommates get along incredibly well.</p>
<p>Wow, thanks for everyone that replied. I can say that I contacted my roommate and they seem pretty cool.</p>
<p>I roomed with a girl from China for about two months – she was very nice and it was really interesting to learn about her background and customs. There is definitely a different standard of personal space, though, I’ll second that! She also used to wash her clothes in our bathroom sink and then hang them ALL over the room to dry, haha. But all in all, it was a cool experience.</p>
<p>Yeah, many people from China and the surrounding areas are not used to washing clothes in the washer. They are used to washing clothes by hand and dry them by hand. Not like us in the US, with washer and dryer in most homes. Been to China twice as part of a high school travel trip. Was interesting seeing people with their lives.</p>
<p>I’d like to give the perspective of being the international roommate. A few summers ago Idid a summer academic programme in Ireland (I am American btw, even if you wouldn’t think so from my spelling). Even going to a country where people speak the same language can be a huge culture shock, I think I spent the first 5 days just getting used to that. Also make note that personal spaces not a huge thing elsewhere, so your roommate might bump into you and not apologise b/c it isn’t a big deal where they come from. Also, the general consensus is that Americans shower way to much. This next bit comes from international friends, speaking a language that isn’t your native tongue is exhausting, so be kind about that. Also, like colloquialism we take for granted, it is fairly likely your international roommate won’t know them.
Oh, one last thing, people who learn a language as their second or third will, in all likelihood, speak with more grammatical correctness than a native speaker, this also results in some degree of formality.</p>
<p>I lived in the international dorm. I didn’t have an international roommate, but one of my really good friends did. He had one from China first semester and one from Mexico second semester.</p>
<p>He really clashed with the Chinese student, but got along really well with the student from Mexico.</p>
<p>There also was this kid from France who lived right across the hall from me.</p>
<p>The Chinese kid also hung his clothes all over the room to dry. He made lots of noise because he wore like wooden sandals to walk around in in the morning. The Mexican student seemed to be pretty much like everyone else and there wasn’t much of a cultural difference that I could tell.</p>
<p>The French kid was absolutely awful. He played his music really loudly all the time and was an absolute pig when it came to girls. I think that was just him and not a cultural thing though.</p>
<p>I’ve heard a lot of people study abroad just to mess around for a semester or a year and that most don’t take academics so seriously while abroad. I think that that attitude can sometimes create problems, but for the most part it’s like having an American roommate. You have to get used to living with someone else.</p>
<p>I haven’t had an international roommate, but I’m on tour with a guy from Japan, so I spend a lot of time with him. It’s actually pretty cool to get to know someone from another country, and the realizations of all the things he doesn’t necessarily know about.</p>
<p>yea . freshman year roommate was international chinese. got lucky with a cool guy and got along really well. i learned a ton of interesting stuff and chinese curse words i would never know otherwise. he was 3 years older than me but all was fine. always told me hilarious gossip about his inner circle clique thing lol</p>
<p>My roommate freshman year (who will also be my roommate next year) is from Hong Kong. She’s a fantastic roommate and we get along great. The culture differences seem to be as significant as east coast west coast differences.</p>
<p>My freshman year roommate was from Singapore. English is her first language. </p>
<p>We’re still friends, though it took a while because most of the international students at my school become good friends during international student orientation, which takes place before the domestic students arrive on campus. For the first few weeks, she hung out with the Asian international students a lot, but I think she eventually became more comfortable with her environment and expanded her circle. She also introduced me to a bunch of international friends.</p>
<p>Thanks everyone.</p>
<p>I never had one, but all my friends who had one last semester hated theirs.</p>