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Students on campus at the University of Warwick
University of Warwick
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Reply 40
Lizia
And most British people would consider those Brits in Spain to be unbelievably rude and look down on them as much as they do on immigrants to this country who refuse to speak English or even be civil to their neighbours. Surely if anything you should want to be better human beings than British ex-pats in Spain, not justify the Chinese mentioned in this thread being narrow minded and unsociable 'just because other people do it'?


I'm not justifying anything. Sure, if they spoke English it would make things easier (I mean for emergency services, etc but it wouldn't guarentee that they'd mix with you) but so what if they don't? You'll get by, they'll get by. Are they being 'uncivil' by not interacting with you??? (Sounds like indifference to me). If I met those Chinese I would suggest that they interact with others outside their 'circle' more, but only suggest. I won't judge them just because they prefer not to - and I won't judge the way our expats create enclaves abroad either. I just think this a lot of fuss over nothing.

Lady Justice
I will complain because the 5 Asian people on my floor bringing all their friends back into my kitchen but refusing to go out with/ speak to me made my first term at university the most depressing stage of my life to date.


I hope that you are kidding. If not, there are probably some rough times ahead.
Students on campus at the University of Warwick
University of Warwick
Coventry
Reply 41
bnpkns
lol

as a Chinese person... it is hilarious to see so many people refer to us as 'Orientals'. oh good god, please stop.


Although, it's a rather common term and despite of what you might have posted here, I've never experienced any problem related to it. Actually, most of the students from mainland China and Hong Kong I know refer to them as Orientals themselves - and they come from a wide range of places and, partially, backgrounds.

Theoretically speaking, this might be an offensive term, but in colloquial language it surely is not. Besides, how would "you" (East Asians, possibly excluding Japan) actually want to be called? Asians? I wouldn't mind but 95% out there would think you're talking about South Asians and/or their neighbours.



Buxtons
Exactly.

anyway i hate to generalise but iv'e found the majority of orientals, chinese in particular to be very ignorant, noisy, and actually quite rude. (im sure not all are like this, just my experience)

I can never concentrate in rileys (billiards/pool hall) because they are shouting, laughing, dropping cues on the floor, talking in an annoying language with whiney voices etc. Nobody else does this except them,


Please keep in mind where these students come from. Despite of what's being said above, China is a developing country and most of the Chinese students come from rather wealthy families (how, on earth, could you else send one or more of your children abroad, to the UK, and pay not only for flights tickets and living costs but also the exorbitant international student fees?). This usually means that you're either a) educated, humble and modest (e.g. quite a few HK girls in London behave that way, esp. at UCL) or, b), a spoiled prick that has no idea about the value of money or respect for others (the best example I could think of was a language course at Newcastle University several years ago - the predominantly male Chinese participants just didn't know or didn't want to behave in a "respectful" way - and I don't only mean Western standards here.

This behaviour is rather true for all sorts of "rich kids", no matter what country they're from.

--

Generally speaking there are a wide range of reasons:
- people usually dislike leaving their comfort zone; going abroad (or: being forced to go abroad!) is hard enough, why bother to make it even harder for yourself? I disagree with this point of view as the "cultural experience" is more important than the education for me, but I come from a wealthy, relaxed and somehow lazy Western country (Germany) and not from an extremely competitive place like HK/China
- language barriers - another comfort-zone thingy, but it's even more essential. How to talk to strangers when you're not even able to speak their language "properly"? From my point of view, it's the universities' fault by not caring about their students' language skills (the IELTS is a joke and we all know it - it doesn't tell much about your ability to interact in English)
- keep in mind that many, especially girls, are being (over-)protected from the outside world as long as possible. When going to a foreign country that's so far away, there's a lot you have to deal with. It begins with the weather and food but is obviously related to social interactions as well - you have to take care of yourself when you go to university in the UK (not really, but for many of them to a major extent), you have to deal with flatmates you didn't know before, even some of the other gender, the time difference makes contact to your friends and family even harder... what do you do? you stick to people in your position that you can somehow assess.

Reasons why they come here:
a) being more or less forced by their families - a British degree certificate is something to show around and will probably lead to a decent job (or husband in case of some girls) later on.
b) being convinced that this is the right step to take for overall personal development - but mostly because of the reasons mentioned in a
c) intrinsic curiosity - these students are actually here because they (believe to) enjoy living abroad and try to get an understanding by interaction

One last thing: Cultural-wise, you're meant to act humble and shy in public - this makes it much harder to socialise with strangers, even if you wanted to. The funny thing is, when you get to know them better, you'll often be quite surprised how their behaviour changes around you.

I've experienced that it can be helpful to make a first step towards him/her/them and see what happens. If they don't make any effort, let them be, if they do, take things a little further and you might actually become friends.
It's a conspiracy, they're planning to overthrow the Chancellor, and steal your laundry!
Reply 43
About 'oriental'. I know numerous students from Korea and Japan who use the term 'oriental' to differentiate them from 'other asians', and conversely to what one poster said above, they'd rather be called 'oriental' than asians. They stoped liking the 'asian' term after they arrived in UK and saw that a lot of crimes in London are commited by 'asians' [since Met Police rarely gives out nationality].

Quite frankly to me the word 'asian' always meant China, Korea, Japan, mostly related to a particular set of facial features [say slit eyes], rather than geographical locations. I still cant get used to the fact that the term 'asians' is used to encompass all other nationalities from that continent.

It's true that 'orientals' are a rather closed community, but from my experience usually the barriers drop once you approach them. Perhaps in the kitchen, chat about food. Be respectful and humble though, and for christ sake, not too inquisitive. Many of the questions the 'westerners' ask casually are considered personal. It is possible to make really good friends and that tells you a person from Poland, rather unatractive conutry in 'orientals' eyes.

However i wouldnt expect orientals just to approach you on their own. It has to come from the 'westerner' side. Well... thats my experience.

Cheers!
GodspeedGehenna
To be honest, I think it's more to do with the fact that Chinese students arn't particularly here out of choice (e.g. for the 'cultural experience' that students often seek when they go abroad), but due to the harshly competitive nature of higher education in China.

Subsequently, when they are here in the UK, they are here for education, not culture. Therefore they are not particularly interested in integrating whereas EU students are often here out of choice for the reason of culture and experience. Hence it is the Chinese especially that have this reputation whereas other countries do not.

Internationals, correct me if I'm wrong.


This. It is exactly what I'm looking for. Chinese people don't really look for culture when they come to UK...only for education. Therefore, they are not so interested in learning the language or integrate into the society in the UK.

Yes...they may appear to be rude, since they're not giving any efforts to learn English whatsoever...but you shouldn't blame them. EU students have a similar background to the people in UK and therefore can assimilate easily into the society. However, Chinese international students have a hard time assimilating into the UK because of the cultural differences and the language barrier. The same thing would go to South Korea and Japan.

In addition, like GodspeedGehenna said, the harsh reality of higher education in China forces others to go to other countries to get an education. It's way competitive in China than in the UK where a densely populated country only has a limited number of universities to accommodate all the students.

Another reason would be prestige and reputation. Chinese students want to go to a good university where it is well-known worldwide. It's not difficult for people to understand that they go overseas...spending so much money...just to go to a good university...where they will be up to par or even exceeding the exceptions of the domestic Chinese university graduate.

Correct me if I'm wrong.
But then I have a feeling that UK/EU students do not really interested in making friends with Chinese. It might be wrong but I think in their mind, Chinese are of 'lower priority' and do not have decent manner, and they are just not really willing to make chinese friends.
Reply 46
iamcute_lala
But then I have a feeling that UK/EU students do not really interested in making friends with Chinese. It might be wrong but I think in their mind, Chinese are of 'lower priority' and do not have decent manner, and they are just not really willing to make chinese friends.


There are plenty of cultural differences for sure and many students from other parts of the world including the UK and EU try to stick to themselves, too - for whatever reasons.

And regarding "decent manners", well, here are plenty of students on campus that have no idea how to behave, regardless of race - or, sadly, age.

After all, there are always open-minded and curious people from different countries somewhere. Hey, I've joined three Chinese societies and I'm curious (and slightly scared) about what will happen when I go to their events :smile:
Reply 47
iamcute_lala
But then I have a feeling that UK/EU students do not really interested in making friends with Chinese. It might be wrong but I think in their mind, Chinese are of 'lower priority' and do not have decent manner, and they are just not really willing to make chinese friends.


I think Chinese people tend to group together. You can see this in Stats lectures sometimes and as a home student who happens to be Chinese this really gets in the way of me meeting people who aren't Chinese.
chonks gonna be chonks.
Reply 49
that's a tautology!
Reply 50
chinese girls are purddy.

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