Chinese students in the US: It's an adjustment.

How well do Chinese students adjust to university life in the US? What do they feel about their experiences? In 2012 or 2013, research was done at Indiana University with regards to Chinese students and their levels of integration into campus life. The research, done my Mollie Dollinger, was summarized in an article entitled "Survey of Chinese Students at Indiana University Reveals Challenges of Integration" on TeaLeafNation.

The article is already a bit dated, being from July 2013, but it is still quite relevant. I'd like to take a few days to make observations from the article and ask some questions.

"According to this survey, Chinese students confirmed that many have few or no American friends and are often unaware of campus life activities such as sporting events or extracurricular clubs.  Instead, the surveyed Chinese students often reported spending their free time involved in Chinese Student associations or Chinese Christian events."

Observation #1

Having few or no American friends and being unaware of campus activities may be interrelated. That is, being unaware of campus activities would likely lead to fewer friends.

I'm not sure how many Chinese students realize that the onus is on them to be aware of activities and clubs and such. Unlike China, where activities are often announced and promoted by head teachers or department heads or both, where activities are often done as a class and organized by the class monitor, being completely responsible for their own social life is something for which many Chinese students are not prepared.

Observation #2

Spending most free time with Chinese student groups would likewise lead to fewer interactions with American students.

It obviously more comfortable for people to spend time with others who have the same general habits, worldviews, and ways of doing relationships. People have to be intentional.

My wife is a homemaker. She doesn't have the rich opportunities to meet people that university students are blessed to have. Yet she's meeting people. She attends a local mothers group. She meets people at the library during kids reading time. She's been invited to and attended a women's retreat. She doesn't expect that people will do things like they do in China. She spends a lot of time asking questions and learning to enjoy how American women do things. If she, a mother of two children, a woman who is not yet able to drive in the US, a woman who spends most of her time at home can meet other woman and form productive enjoyable relationships in three months, surely students on university campuses can as well.

Questions

• What can the international student services (ISS) do to better keep international students informed  and aware of campus events, clubs, etc.?
• What can ISS or teachers do to better prepare Chinese students about how to take more responsibility for their own social lives and to generally help them understand the social scene on US campuses (and how it differs from the social scene of Chinese campuses)?
• What if anything can be done to help Chinese students step out and learn to enjoy how things are done in the US, rather than focusing on Chinese student groups?
• Could more extensive training in cross-cultural skills (e.g. learning to ask questions and be a learner in social situations) be of value to these Chinese students in the US?

Follow me on Twitter @MatthewTShowman

Happy Horse Year!

Being back in the US for Chinese New Year (Spring Festival) has been odd for both my wife and I. For her, it's the first time she's ever been away from her family over Spring Festival. For me, I simply miss a festival that had become such an important part of my life. Last night I even ended up watching performances from the CCTV Spring Festival Gala (春晚) on Youtube with my eldest son. The family eating together at the end of this performance made me cry.

I thought for this post I'd simply share a few things that I love, or at least miss, about Chinese New Year in China. These are in no particular order.

1. Baijiu (白酒) with the menfolk
Foreigners tend to unfairly bash baijiu (Chinese "white" liquor) to no end, and I admit that it took effort for me to acquire a taste for the stuff. Nevertheless, drinking with my father-in-law and other male relatives had become a highlight of every holiday and birthday celebration. It bonded us together. It's when I really felt one with them, and I may be so bold as to say it's when they felt most at home with me. Effect of mild intoxication? Hardly. I'll give the simple explanation people gave me: This is Chinese culture.

2. Fireworks
OK, I don't really miss the fireworks. I mean, between the air pollution, the 5:00 a.m. (if you're lucky) wakeup call, and the constant use that makes one crazy on about day four, it's not really something I could miss. Still, not a single firework? Not even one?! It's a bit disappointing. 真扫兴！

3. Preserved meats (腊肉)
Not only did I miss meat-hanging season, but now I don't get to eat any myself! 非常扫兴！

4. Big family dinners
Not all Chinese families are large, but my wife's is. Aside from New Years Eve, when it was just us, her parents, her brother, and her brother's wife, Spring Festival dinners usually hosted no less than 20 people. Day after day, home after home, dinner after dinner. Eventually I grew sick of all the food and renao, but I miss being a part of it. In the words of Joni Mitchell (or glam metal band Cinderella), "You don't know what you've got, till [sic] it's gone."

5. Seeing the joy on my wife's face and on the faces of the children (mine and others')
This morning I asked my wife if she wants to stay here on Saturday and make jiaozi (Chinese dumplings) with my family or go to the Chinese church to celebrate with them. She hasn't made up her mind. I'll be fine with either. What I mourn, however, is that the Spring Festival delight that had always been present in previous years is not in her eyes now. Not seeing her delight gives me a sense of loss, as well.

So, readers: If you've experienced Chinese New Year but are spending Spring Festival 2014 abroad, what do you miss?

"Chinese students just want grades."

(Below is a highly condensed version of a longer draft article)

Another comment complaints about Chinese students in the US is that they only care about grades. That is, they don't really value learning or contributing to classes or campus, unless it factors into their grades. Again variations of this complaint abound online in articles and posts from sites such as The Chronicle of Higher Education, Danwei, and China Law Blog. Again I want to look into the fairness of this complaint.

As with previous post, it is unfair to point fingers at Chinese student or any other international student group for caring too much about grades and too little about learning. I personally have always cared deeply about learning, but in my time at university plenty of US students demonstrated ambivalence toward learning. Students regularly handed in papers devoid of actual research or studiousness. Many never read professors comments, looking only at the score. Students asked, "How can I improve my score?" and I always thought to myself, "Spend more time hitting the books." Concern about grades is not limited to international students.

However, there are several factors that do, in fact, contribute to Chinese students focusing on grades, and in some cases not about the learning, at least not in the American sense of the word. These factors include an exam-focused education system, a relationship-based (more than merit-based) society, and a culture of "face".

It's no secret that the Chinese education system is exam based. People underestimate, however, the effect this can have on many students. Students' academic careers, from elementary school through university, are determined by the results of exams. By and large, these exams test students ability to regurgitate facts and plug numbers into formulas. Whether students understand or not is often irrelevant. In such an environment, grades are paramount, and most understand grades to be the sole determinant of whether learning has occurred. Such a mindset does not change simply because one has entered a US university.

Getting jobs and promotions in China is often more about who you know than about what you know or what you can do. Although few might say it, there is a glum recognition that no matter how hard one studies or how much on learns, it simply may not matter. So, why try? If you need is the document for legitimization (a degree, a transcript, etc.), but the important thing knowing the right people, why not cheat? Why not find someone to take the test for you? You'd be better off cultivating relationships than acquiring knowledge.

Face is an oft-mentioned aspect of Chinese culture (as well as of Japanese and Korean culture). For Chinese, in practice, face often comes down to not only being a winner, but also looking the part, hence the uniquely Chinese penchant for ostentatious luxury goods. Today, many schools still make students' scores public, from the the top students to the bottom. Universities select students with the top exam scores (or those whose parents have good connections). Employers seek students with the top scores, regardless of actual ability, experiences, or societal engagement. Chinese students in the US who plan to go back to China know this and act accordingly; appearances matter.

This is an incredibly condensed description, and the topic truly deserves a much more nuanced discussion. Nevertheless, I hope it has been helpful.

Why do you think US students complain about Chinese students' focus on grades?

If you believe it is a legitimate complaint, why do you think Chinese focus so much on scores, even at the expense of learning (in the US sense)?

Follow Matthew on Twitter: @MatthewTShowman

Additional Media
Channel C: Discussion of college application in China and the US
Channel C: Why don't Chinese students challenge authority? (The first half is most relevant to this post.)
Wall Street Journal: What the Chinese Want (Tom Doctoroff)
The high ambitions of China's consumers (Tom Doctoroff)

Why don't Chinese hang out with other people?

(Below is a highly condensed version of a draft article.)

One of the comment complaints about Chinese students in the US are that they only hang out with themselves, and that they aren't interested in other peoples. Variations of this complaint abound online. I personally recall seeing such comments mentioned in The Chronicle of Higher Education, Danwei, and China Law Blog. Are these complaints fair?

On one hand, it is unfair (and possibly xenophobic) to blame Chinese or any other international student group for spending more time with themselves than with other student groups. People naturally incline toward people of similar interests. Probably hardest to cross are lines between peoples with different ideologies. Do you often see LGBT student groups hosting friendly social events with conservative evangelical Christian groups? Different cultural and linguistic backgrounds create ideological differences that are likewise difficult to bridge. And it's simply more comfortable to spend time with people you can converse with more easily.

On the other hand, Chinese are and will continue to be closely connected in ways that are difficult for Americans to understand, and vice versa. The Chinese view of friendship carries with it obligations and duties that would make most Americans uncomfortable. They might even conclude that Chinese friendships are superficial and selfish. (Indeed, even the words obligation and duty in English carry negative connotations.) In contrast, the lack of these obligations in US friendships likewise cause Chinese to often conclude that US friendships are superficial and selfish.

Fundamentally, this is the difference between individualistic and collectivist worldviews. American friendships vary based on time and place because Americans fundamentally believe that to survive they must take care of themselves and cannot (or should not) rely on anyone else. Chinese friendships remain regardless of time and place, as Chinese believe that survival requires the help of the group; the individual must rely on the group just the group relies on him or her.

Chinese culture has always been family and clan focused. In modern society, the clan extends to classmates and colleagues. In time of national adversity or when abroad, the clan includes all Chinese. Why do Chinese so easily group together when abroad? All things being equal, why don't they reach out and make new non-Chinese friends at university, just like all the US students? In a sense, while we see new Chinese students in the US as new individuals in a sea of new individuals, they see the other Chinese as friends they simply haven't met yet: "brothers from other mothers."

What to do? Should concerned administrators sit back and do nothing? What about concerned students?

Don't give up. Engage Chinese students. Invite them to take part in activities. Remember that in the absence of strong group culture (e.g. classmates with whom students take all or most classes together), although most Chinese want these friendships with US students, they are uncertain how to make and maintain such friendships. You can bridge the gap.

Oh, and be ready for what may seem like unreasonable requests. It means they want your friendship.

Follow Matthew on Twitter: @MatthewTShowman