<p>Every time I visited school I always see Asians walk together, having lunch together. Once I was visiting a great boarding school I saw group of kids from Korea were having lunch together and they were really enjoyed their Korean conversation. Just wondering why does this happen to every school?</p>
<p>hmmm, i think that in a lot of schools, several minority races may group together, not just koreans. i think the reason is that when you are far away from your home, you want to be close to what you are used to. you know "birds of a feather flock together". anyway, this does not always have to be true, i think it is up to the students to decide the kinds of friends they will make.</p>
<p>I don't see how it's different from the Brazilian kids sitting together and speaking Portuguese, the Russian kids sitting together and speaking Russian, etc. I know that happens a lot at my school, there's a lot of joking about it. The Asians just seem to stick together, Koreans especially. I assure you that many of those kids most likely have non-Asian friends. For me, some of my closest friends aren't Asian. But most of them are. It's comforting in a way, especially if you're from an Asian country to find other people with whom you can have an almost deeper level of understanding with. It can be as simple as having a friend with those "Asian parents" that are almost exactly like yours.</p>
<p>You make friends with the same interests as you (usually). Asian dramas, anime, traveling to that country—it's all a part of finding people you're comfortable with and becoming good friends.</p>
<p>one of the reasons I am applying to bs is diversity. if you're telling me that all of the international kids hang out together than what's the point if it's not integrated socially?</p>
<p>where i went the school was segregated right down racial lines; all the blacks and hispanics in one group, asians (chinese, korean) in another, then a bunch of different cliques of white kids. that's not really a boarding school-specific thing though, but i think it is pretty common.</p>
<p>I know that my daughter (we are caucasian) is very close to her Korean roommate to the extent that they chose each other for this 2nd year at school. And while they do not necessarily keep the same social circles - from what I understand EC type affiliations tend to drive social circles (sports teams, drama, music, etc.), many Asian kids tend to participate in the same ECs at my D's school.</p>
<p>So while you may see Koreans hanging together, a lot of that has to do with the things they participate in together on campus. A visitor to a campus may see the group of Asian kids together thinking one thing, while a group of caucasian kids together doesn't draw attention. Both may be hanging out with their teammates.</p>
<p>I also know that the Korean kids at my D's school want to be there so they can work in the American culture, which will help them in the American colleges they wish to get into. However, they do like to hang out with people of common interest. If you are interested in meeting them, the interest will be mutual.</p>
<p>My son has an Asian-American roommate, and they are on their 2nd year together as roomies. My son considers him to be a good friend.</p>
<p>roses&clovers, if that's directed partly at me please don't misunderstand. I have no doubts, that at boarding school that you will be in a diverse environment where you'll be able to learn a lot from your peers. It's the same at my own high school (a public magnet). Kids hang out with, well, whoever they want. Ethnicities do not define friendships. I was trying to say that similarities are what bring people together, and sometimes simply being of the same ethnicity is enough.</p>
<p>When I was in college I really resented all the African-American kids clumping together. I couldn't understand why they were segregating themselves. (Interestingly it never seemed to bother me that the kids from NYC all tended to hang out together, too.) Then I moved to China and I suddenly understood the need to sometimes hang out with people with whom you don't always have to be explaining yourself, your culture, your language, etc. </p>
<p>The truth is, all of us have a hard time breaking out of our comfort zone when it comes to friends. It's just that with the Korean kids what defines their comfort zone is more public. The barriers come down as people live together. A couple of years ago an African orphan at our school and the wealthiest white student got in trouble together for a little campus infraction. Part of me was actually a little proud, there aren't many places where these kids would have been close enough to get into trouble together. :)</p>
<p>I, as a Korean myself, have felt this "segregation," even in elementary school! </p>
<p>I think the students from their own countries group together mostly because they do not want to be "left out" when being around other new kids from different backgrounds. There might be misunderstandings of cultural differences, and they would want to feel "included" in a group.</p>
<p>When I was in elementary school, there was a group of Korean guys who would walk around the school during breaks and lunches, bothering other kids and yelling at them in Korean. I was lucky enough to not be part of the group (I would be running to the soccer field as soon as the bell rang :D). My parents, hearing many problems caused by that group, decided to move me to another middle school when I finally finished 6th grade (same neighborhood, but a different middle school). Now I have no problems regarding segregation, because many students at our middle school are accepting of each others' differences.</p>
<p>The problem is, I got assigned to the high school (the assignments are done by the areas in which you live in) where there were many more cases of segregation. This is another reason why I want to go to a boarding school--to experience diversity and being able to learn other cultures as well.</p>
<p>My older son met his best friend at bs....he is a Korean American who moved to this country in the sixth grade. They were roommates sophomore through senior year and five years after graduation, still visit and keep in touch in regularly.
One of my younger son's best friends at bs is also an Asian; he is from Korea.
Yes, you do see a lot of the Asian kids hanging out together and speaking their native languages - but who can blame them - if I was in a foreign country, I think I'd tend to look for other American.
I think the reason we are focusing on Asians, is because they tend to be the largest minority at bs (i.e. fewer groups of peoples from other countries).</p>