And half of the students from East Asia said they were unhappy with the number of American friends they had. Professor Gareis says thirty percent said they wished their friendships could be deeper and more meaningful.
ELISABETH GAREIS: "Students from East Asia have cultures that are different on many levels from the culture in the United States. But then there's also language problems, and maybe some social skills, such as small talk, that are possibly not as important in their native countries, where it's not as important to initiate friendships with small talk."
She says many East Asian students blamed themselves for their limited friendships with Americans.
ELISABETH GAREIS: "The vast majority blames themselves, actually for not speaking the language well enough, not knowing the culture well enough. There were also some comments about the college environment, like many of them were in the natural sciences or worked in labs where they were surrounded by other East Asians."
VOA's Student Union blogger Jessica Stahl did her own survey to find out how American students and foreign students relate to each other. More than one hundred students, about half of them American, answered her online questions.
Half of the international students and sixty percent of the Americans said they related as well or better to the other group than to their own group.
Eighty-five percent of the Americans said they have at least one international friend. But only about half said they have more than two international friends.
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2013-11-25
2013-11-25
2013-11-25
2013-11-25
2013-11-25
2013-11-25