Bridging foreign student divide

The University of Pennsylvania's student-run magazine 34th Street reported on March 21 that 85 percent of Chinese international students at Penn said they don't have one American friend.

The article titled "The 7,000-Mile Divide" went on to say that 38 percent, or 1,772, of Penn's international students were from China, by far the largest total by country.

China Daily conducted random, informal interviews with overseas Chinese students at George Washington University in Washington to see if conditions there matched up.

The results suggest a divide between undergraduates and graduates, with undergraduates more inclined to have close US friends.

"Undergraduates have more opportunities to make friends with American students," said Xue Congrui, vice-president of the Chinese Student and Scholar Association at GWU.

"By contrast, graduates tend to concentrate more on their studies and career development, leaving them fewer chances to befriend American students," Xue explained.

Wang Zhen, a third-year undergraduate finance major from Shenzhen, said he had established friendships with many Americans since freshman year. They chat frequently in their spare time and dine out regularly on weekends.

Wang said he joined the football club two years ago, the only Chinese player on the entire team, and regularly trains with his teammates.

"Although the burden of homework is getting heavier now, we still keep in touch with each other. Whenever we are free, we will make appointments and hang out together," Wang said.

Among graduate students, whose conditions vary, some said they have close American friends, others said they don't have a single one.

For the latter, the language barrier, heavy workload and daily schedules are the three most cited reasons that prevent them from establishing bonds with American students.

"I have encountered difficulty in communicating with American students since the first day I arrived here," said Wang Ziqian, a first-year environmental engineering graduate. "I signed up for clubs to practice my English initially, but as I always have too much homework to handle, I haven't been there for a while,"

Jia Lu, a first-year statistics graduate, took a part-time job at the international services office as a student ambassador. For her, it's the differences in lifestyles that discourage her from making friends with American students.

"[American students] are huge fans of drinking, chatting and clubbing," she said. "They can do it all day and all night. That I cannot bear. I don't want to waste energy doing such stuff."

Chinese students' work ethic is acknowledged by their American classmates.

"[Chinese students] are smart, dedicated and determined," said Kelly Delpercio, a journalism major from New Jersey.

"I've done group work with Chinese students. They are open, engaging and not afraid of asking questions. Everyone works so hard to make sure they understand American culture as best as they can."

She said that interaction between international students and American students was definitely not common at GWU, which has around 1,000 international students.

"Unfortunately, I always see international students staying together and American students staying together in their own groups," Delpercio said. "Students are more inclined to stay in groups they are familiar with and culturally similar to."

Guo Fengqing in Washington contributed to the story.