<p>hi, i am an international student and i am hoping to major in asian-area studies or a related major. can anyone enlighten me as to which university would be better for this purpose? i have been accepted to u of toronto and u of british columbia.</p>
<p>thanks!</p>
<p>well i know that ubc is filled with asians...so if you want a school with asian dominance go to ubc...im not too sure about u of t though</p>
<p>I would imagine that U of T would also have a lot of Asians considering the amount of Asians living in Toronto. Either way, both schools are excellent universities.</p>
<p>Supposedly UBC has an amazing Asian Studies (and IR) program.</p>
<p>Why do Asians factor in, in making a decision to attend a school? There are many schools full of caucasians yet I don't see that information posted on this board.</p>
<p>coming from a country in asia where the caucasian population is less than 1%... it's a matter of comfort level. how easily one can obtain local food and such like.</p>
<p>but yes, it would simply smack of racism if one were to pick a school based simply on the number of asians enrolled. while i have chosen to take up the offer of admission at ubc (thanks for the advice that was offered!), i did so based on the strength of the asian studies program, international reputation, and the climate.</p>
<p>ivyleaguer, the fact is, the majority of asians remain wary of caucasians. we can be very insular people that way. on my part, i hope to be able to meet and make friends with people (regardless of race) at university. in fact, many from my country have warned me against the negative repercussions when one mixes with only asians.</p>
<p>UBC gives you access to Vancouver, which is arguably the first and largest Asian community in Canada, perfect for East-Asian studies. Not that Toronto, Ontario doesn't have a large Asian population, it just doesn't have as many as Vancouver, B.C. Hence the infamous "Asian invasion" remark a few years back about Chinese immigrants in B.C.</p>
<p>Missbean, I am surprised at your comment sabout Asians being weary of caucasians. I have a lot of Asian friends and they say most Asians look up to whites: fashion, culture etc, beauty. Some have even gone as far as to use the word "worship" to describe their affection for whites. They use eyelid surgery as one example of this. Please don't blame the messenger if you disagree. I am just passing on what I have been told. But I would love to hear a response to this. Educate me.</p>
<p>haha.. i'd say 'popular culture'. consider the extent to which western culture has spread over most of the world, and also that in the past few centuries, many asian countries where in fact being governed by europeans and americans. there's been quite a bit of influence spread around over many decades. naturally, issues such as fashion or even one's favourite actor, would be heavily weighted as such. institutions such as hollywood still hold the reins of global trends, and not only in asian countries.</p>
<p>in my country, there does exist a certain respect towards caucasians (not 'worship' however). being a caucasian is guaranteed to ensure excellent service and treatment from locals. (i was once in a post office where a french lady recieved a wide smile and helpful information from the counter-lady. the same counter-lady scowled at me on my turn and barked a 'what!') on the other hand, my country is also heavily reliant on tourism and foreign investment. it could be just that we are polite to all foreigners. =p</p>
<p>there are many asians who also seem to ape caucasians by getting eyelid surgery or dyeing their hair (mine is streaked blonde in fact). however, this is done for fashion reasons or simply to indicate one's departure from formal education. (dyed hair is not allowed in high school)</p>
<p>i mentioned previously that asians were 'wary' of caucasians. this has to do with the same reason that many asians also find caucasians attractive - namely confidence and outspokeness. these two character traits are valuable ones, but they are not ingrained into the conventional asian culture which tends towards reticence. thus, i think it plausible that asians might gravitate towards caucasians because of lack thereof.</p>
<p>similarly, many also remain wary towards caucasians. it is not unusual to find a group of caucasian teenagers making the most noise on public transport while the rest of the vehicle is silent. while i find that many caucasian parents encourage their children to be more active and give them room to make mistakes, asian parents like to maintain strictness and emphasize polite behaviour. this has led to instances where one supposes a noisy child to be badly-brought up. in the same way, one can also easily mistake confidence for arrogance, although this is not always the case. </p>
<p>(oh. and asians have great respect for authority. many asians wanted kerry to win the elections last year.. go figure.)</p>
<p>Miss Bean: you are Singaporean aren't you?</p>
<p>youssarin: what makes you think i'm not from dubai? ;p</p>
<p>Miss Bean...are you familiar with the University of Alberta? It's in Edmonton, AB and has top ranked programs in East Asian studies, and excellent international business programs. It's on MacLean's top 10 every year, I think this year it was 6.</p>
<p>actually.. no. i haven't. until i read your post that is.</p>
<p>why are you suggesting U of A....
when program wise ubc is better
when climate wise ubc is better
when rank wise ubc is better
when diversity wise ubc is still better</p>
<p>its not like she didnt get into ubc/u of t and was in need of alternatives</p>
<p>wow, you are pretty defensive about ubc. why?</p>
<p>Toronto! Great city, great school!</p>
<p>missbean, it's quite strange that you want to move a very long way from home to a western country to study Asian culture with the intent of staying submerged into the local Asian subculture. It actually sounds so wrong...</p>
<p>Why not study in China instead, or perhaps Europe, where the Caucasians are very polite by your standards? Maybe the UK?</p>