<p>I'm gonna be a freshman international student next semester. English is my first language so no problem there (I speak like an American too if that helps lol). What I'm kind of concerned about may be the attittude of the American population. I'll be attending a school where around 10% of the student population is international so that's actually quite good (I think), but I have a lot of friends who went to the states for college and they don't seem to be enjoying it as much as I thought they would. It's always been my dream to live in the states, you know ''land of opportunity'', ''you're free and independent'' etc. But I met with some of my friends who went to college last year in the states, and a lot of them feel disconnected. They don't feel in touch with the culture and a lot of them talk about how some of the americans are extremely ignorant, close-minded and to put it bluntly stupid *******s. The best friends they made ended up being other international students and they never really gelled with the american groups.</p>
<p>I actually really want to get to know Americans, and I hope I'll make lots of American friends and if everything goes well, then I would actually like to consider living in the states post-college, but that decision is for later. I'd consider myself sociable and rather friendly in most situations but I find it really weird that my old friends who went off to college did not really associate with the Americans, especially because those guys also seemed very sociable. It might be because some of them went to schools that are not really diverse but I'd have thought they would have had fun no matter where they went tbh. Are most Americans really close-minded, ignorant and unaccepting of other cultures?</p>
<p>Are all Italians ignorant of other cultures? Are all Germans close minded? Are all Englishmen unaccepting of other cultures? </p>
<p>Of course not. Stupid generalizations are stupid. It sounds to me like your friends weren’t social enough and blame Americans for not treating them better for simply being an international.</p>
<p>A personal example; I went to high school in a relatively rural, almost all white area. I think my school was 99% white. There were a few international kids who came to our school; one from Iran, another from Germany, another from Vietnam. All of them were really popular and had many friends. But, they were friendly and sociable. Most people thought that their international background was fascinating.</p>
<p>My guess is that your friends didn’t want to change their cultural attitudes about certain things and then got upset when Americans didn’t like them for it. No matter where you’re from, if you assume everyone (in your new country) will conform to your culture, you won’t make friends. The trick is to be open to new ideas while still retaining your cultural identity.</p>
<p>College students tend to be pretty liberal-minded. Outright bigotry is not tolerated nor is it the norm. However, I can totally understand why your international student friends would feel “disconnected” from the general cultural atmosphere that dominate American college life. College life and life for young people in your home countries may be very different from that in the U.S. </p>
<p>From my observation, the international students tend to all come together and befriend each other though. There’s probably an international student organization and other clubs based on student nationality on campus. These would be good places to find people whom you relate to right away and friends to hang out with when you get to campus.</p>
<p>lol, yea but I don’t wanna be just confined to being friends with only the international students. I wanna experience America to its fullest and make plenty of US friends. It’s reassuring to hear that most are liberal and open-minded though.</p>
<p>Honestly, I’ve never liked the country where I finished highscool (Belgium), my dad was a diplomat so I moved around a lot but I don’t consider myself to have a home and can’t identify myself with any country. I’ve always viewed USA as ‘‘the light at the end of the tunnel’’ and hope that maybe I can find a home in America…</p>
<p>Yeah I know… I love America too much even though the most I’ve stayed in it so far was like 2 weeks for holiday lol.</p>
<p>I just think it’s really stupid how some of my old friends are only hanging out with other international students and don’t seem to enjoy being around the company of other americans. I hope that it’s their own fault and not the fault of the college or american culture/people.</p>
<p>Just a quick question here: Do most americans think differently of international students and judge them before even meeting them? and if so how? or do they treat them the same way as any other american?</p>
<p>I think you will do just fine and shouldn’t have a problem making friends. A lot of the international students at my school didn’t seem to have a problem with making friends with American students and many of them were involved in Greek life and other clubs. The people who I noticed that tend to have problems with making friends were the ones who were very awkward to be around or just not welcoming in general.</p>
<p>Again, STOP GENERALIZING 400 MILLION PEOPLE. The United States is a massive country full of various types of people. Will there be occasional problems? Of course. But there’s no such thing as “most Americans”.</p>
<p>dude… lighten up, and im perfectly aware that not everyone is the same. But there might be some stereotypes for or against international students.</p>
<p>No, there isn’t. Some areas might have certain attitudes towards certain people, sure. But to assume that every area of the US is exactly the same is foolish. </p>
<p>You may get this idea since you lived in Belgium: an extremely small country with a small, relatively homogeneous population. Think of it this way: does someone in England think the same way someone in France does? America is such a huge variety of cultures and peoples. </p>
<p>Make an attempt to be social and you’ll be fine.</p>
I’d consider myself sociable and rather friendly in most situations but I find it really weird that my old friends who went off to college did not really associate with the Americans, especially because those guys also seemed very sociable. It might be because some of them went to schools that are not really diverse but I’d have thought they would have had fun no matter where they went tbh. Are most Americans really close-minded, ignorant and unaccepting of other cultures?
[/quote]
</p>
<p>In the case of American college students, some are close-minded, ignorant and unaccepting of other cultures; most aren’t. What you need to understand is that even though you are eager to meet Americans, most Americans are probably not exactly eager to meet you. You are just a random foreigner to them, not a member of their clique. Did you know that most Americans can’t pinpoint Belgium on a map?</p>
<p>I’d hardly call Belgium irrelevant or that hard to find. It’s rather small but if you know anything about it it takes about 10 seconds to find.</p>
<p>There was a Belgium foreign exchange student at my Highschool my senior year who was nice and had a pretty good group of friends. I didn’t have any classes with her so I didn’t really get a chance to socialize with her too much but we did speak in French at one point. Point being I don’t think you should have too much trouble from personal experience as long as you’re sociable and do the things people normally do to make friends. Join clubs, open your door the first week, be open to talk, you should be fine.</p>
<p>My point was that knowing where Belgium is located isn’t really required knowledge and doesn’t particularly make you any smarter. It’s a minor country that is slightly larger than the state of Massachusetts. </p>
<p>If you expect every American to know the world’s geography in detail and know every random country’s culture, you’re in for a sore disappointment. The same can be said for any person, anywhere. It isn’t relevant information for 99.9% of people.</p>
<p>^ Hm. What I was trying to get at was that what you said upheld the OP’s worries. In my lifetime, I have moved countries 7 times, living in 5 countries in total (incl. the US). What astounds me the most is the idea in the US that there are “lesser” countries, where “lesser” human beings reside. A country’s size, or military strength, or other arbitrary facts and figures do nothing to change the fact that all countries are important. You may disagree, but I don’t see how anyone can ever believe that one group of human beings is less relevant or important than another group of human beings.</p>
<p>But I still think that, by and large, college students are some of the more liberal section of the population (other than Democrats). Let’s put it this way, people in college are smarter and more aware than non-college kids of the same age. I also feel that younger people have grown up with more respect for other cultures. While there might be some immature things that college students do, I still think that if you had to generalize, college students are probably some of the most open and sophiscated people.</p>
<p>errm, honestly your point you made on belgium is ■■■■■■■■… I wouldn’t expect or care much if any american did know where it was, especially since I’ve lived in over 6 countries in my life and you’re assuming I’m from Belgium just because it’s where I’ve lived the last 2 years of my life. On that note though, I wouldn’t go so far as to call any country inferior without at least knowing something about it, Belgium is the capital of Europe, the EU and NATO and extremely diverse, where people generally speak 3 languages fluently.</p>
<p>And yeah, I’ve heard a lot about how Americans think they are the best country on this planet and all other countries are inferior etc etc and so far your posts have only helped back up that statement. I never said all Americans have the same atittude, it should be noted that every country does have it’s own culture, and I realize that doesn’t mean that americans all think alike but there are some things that they share.</p>
<p>In fact, your posts are very much hypocritical and condescnding. Also I really don’t think you understood the question, you just looked at some points I made and replied but did not look at everything I said in context… I dunno, maybe you took offense to some of the things I said… Thankfully, others have answerred this thread nicely. It seems like most Americans are liberal and open, and I’m looking forward to starting college.</p>
<p>Uhm… ok? I was trying to explain why perhaps your friends didn’t have a good experience. I didn’t call Belgium inferior, but it’s a tiny country that doesn’t have a huge impact on world events. Do you know where Botswana is? Are you ignorant for not knowing where Botswana is? Does knowing where Botswana is make any difference whatsoever in your life? </p>
<p>Now when it comes to countries that make a difference on the world stage, such as China, France, Russia, England, India, etc., in my experience most people know where they are. It’s not like me or most people think people from Belgium are inferior, but you can’t expect everyone to know of it when its impact is minimal.</p>
<p>I’d also like to see where I said “America is the best country on Earth”. Oh… that’s right. I didn’t say that.</p>
<p>My point (which seemed to go over your head) was that Americans are friendly if you make an attempt to be social and interested in culture. This is no different than any other country. But if not knowing where some random small country is qualifies for ignorance, then no, I don’t think you’ll get along well.</p>