- 10 Apr 2004
- 1,398
- 81
I recently started attending community college and I see a lot of foreign students around (much more than I saw when I went to a state school), some of them are Japanese. I'm very curious about them because I've always been interested in other cultures and I'm tempted to approach them and ask them about where they're from or, in the case of the Japanese students, tell them that I've spent some time in their home country and maybe speak a little Japanese with them. But I never do.
The different nationalities don't seem to mix much at my school. I look around and I see Japanese students hanging out only with other Japanese students, Indonesian students together, white students, and so forth, and I wonder why. Is it because they're more comfotable with people who are similar to them, is it because the other groups shun them? In most cases, I don't think it's because they're being shunned, but rather they've segregated themselves by forming such tight-knit groups. They seem very relaxed with each other, but whenever an "outsider" tries to talk to them, they seem very standoffish. I've wanted to talk to them but it's intimidating to try to break into such a seemingly closed off group. It might be a little easier if they were by themselves or something, but they often hang out in groups of like fifteen or so of them. And it's unfortunate that they won't really learn much about America and American people while they're here if they only socialize with their own nationals. So I guess I'm saying that I think the segregation comes as much from the group itself as it does from other forces.
But thinking back, I guess I ended up in a similar situation when I was in Japan. Most of the people I socialized with were other gaijin, although most of them were not American. Maybe it's natural to seek out others who are similar to you because it's just more comfortable to be around people you can easily communicate with and who have a similar background to you. I just wish people of different cultures could mix a little more easily, but I don't know what could happen to make things change.
Just thinking aloud.
The different nationalities don't seem to mix much at my school. I look around and I see Japanese students hanging out only with other Japanese students, Indonesian students together, white students, and so forth, and I wonder why. Is it because they're more comfotable with people who are similar to them, is it because the other groups shun them? In most cases, I don't think it's because they're being shunned, but rather they've segregated themselves by forming such tight-knit groups. They seem very relaxed with each other, but whenever an "outsider" tries to talk to them, they seem very standoffish. I've wanted to talk to them but it's intimidating to try to break into such a seemingly closed off group. It might be a little easier if they were by themselves or something, but they often hang out in groups of like fifteen or so of them. And it's unfortunate that they won't really learn much about America and American people while they're here if they only socialize with their own nationals. So I guess I'm saying that I think the segregation comes as much from the group itself as it does from other forces.
But thinking back, I guess I ended up in a similar situation when I was in Japan. Most of the people I socialized with were other gaijin, although most of them were not American. Maybe it's natural to seek out others who are similar to you because it's just more comfortable to be around people you can easily communicate with and who have a similar background to you. I just wish people of different cultures could mix a little more easily, but I don't know what could happen to make things change.
Just thinking aloud.
