I’m definitely not in the majority and I think that’s because 1. I was a semi-matured aged student when I went to Uni, 2. We had a small tight and close night group (with Thai, MY, HK, Indonesian and Indian and some local students) which pretty much all got along (we even had karaoke nights) and 3. I’ve always been fascinated with Asian culture and have tended to have ABC or Australian-Asian (vice-verse) friends.

I wonder is there a difference when you try to intermingle with Australian-Asians? How are international students received then?

I have done some tutoring in the past and manged to offend some international students. Nothing that I’m proud of but something that made me realise I could not in most cases engage with international students the same way. And it wasn’t intentional I was just trying to get them to join-in on the discussion. I tried to open the door but they backed away. Of course this is not always the case because when I was a student there were 1 or 2 international students that would challenge the lecturer and debate other students which was refreshing to get an alternative perspective (and I’m still in contact with these colleagues).

So there is a definite challenge for international students to step outside the comfortable and accustomed norms by challenging assumptions, getting involved in class discussions and making contributions. Feeling uncomfortable and stupid some times is one part of the value-add learning and studying process in Australia.

On the social front this is also a challenge. When I think about the nightlife in Melbourne I recall Asian nights? Asian nights?

Yes, well I know that these are usually run by local Asians and I’m not sure how many international students go to these clubs but I have known international friends that used to go. These are of course not the best functions to break down cultural barriers and intermingle. I’m yet to see a White night or Locals only night but they might be out there but I don’t think this is that important.

The real challenge is to target the secular cultural student groups and have a truly multicultural event or create a truly multicultural student group. A quick look at the Monash Uni clubs (http://www.monashclubs.org/theClubs.php) site produces only the Exchange club, Melbourne Uni (http://union.unimelb.edu.au/clubs/cultural) looks even worse not one listing or suggestion of a multicultural club. RMIT (http://www.su.rmit.edu.au/clubs/clublist.htm) under the spiritual section has a listing for the Multicultural Student Fellowship. I found Swinburne’s student union site (http://www.ssu.org.au/clubs/index.php) but could not see this listings.

Alicia, are you up for the challenge to bridge the cultural divide and make a difference?

cheers