At one lunch time last week, I found myself reading through the Gaudie (the student newspaper for Aberdeen). Usually I find the newspaper a nice relief from the regular old boring paper, being a nice mix of funny and sarcastic, and serious news and articles.
The newspaper in question this time had a article meant to be taken seriously, written by an international student on the subject of whether Aberdeen was welcoming to the large number of international students that attend the universities.
Being truthful, I have no problem with the start of the article - the university is open to international students, and there is an array of activities meant to ease the transition into university life in an unfamiliar country. It's the light that other people are shown in within the article I have a problem with.
It is made known in the paper that most international students tend to hang out with other international students. Ok fine, if that's what you see from your side, I won't question that. And that Scottish people spend most of their time with other Scottish people. Perhaps, though personally I find the international students in my course to be great to be around. Just like in my out-of-uni activities, there is a plethora of international students that I get on with very well. The article points out that there is no discrimination felt, when the author asked other international students how welcome they felt in Aberdeen.
However, regardless of this result, there were a few other sentences which I definitely did take issue with. One was from a psychology student - "When I told my Scottish classmates I was going on holiday in Bali, they gave me this strange look like; 'you're from the Czech Republic, where did you get the money from for that.'" Now perhaps I'm the only one out there, but I would be wondering where, as a student, you got the money from. Country doesn't even come into the equation. I would love to be able to afford a holiday, but I just can't, and I'm about as Scottish as you get. Why put the emphasis on country? No matter where you come from (be it the Czech Republic, the USA, Scotland, England, Malaysia, France - whatever), if you're able to afford to live away from home, get all the way through uni, and then afford a holiday in your fourth year, I would be pretty shocked. It's not about people from another country not having money, it's about the awe that someone else can afford to go on holiday when we could only ever dream about affording it.
The piece makes some very valid points, but I dislike the portrayal of the cause of the barriers between Scottish and international students. Sure cultural differences has a massive part, but I think the biggest problem is actually attitude, on both sides. Sure we don't have a new language to learn, but that doesn't mean we have it super easy either. The culture in Aberdeen is massively different to that at home, which is in turn, massively different to that in either Edinburgh or Glasgow. There's a reason I tend to get on better with the OTC-ers in Glasgow or Tayforth than I do in the majority of the Aberdeen OTC, as you may well tell from my previous posts. Different cultures, different personalities, different ways of communicating. Yes, we DO need to discover new cultures, it is difficult for us to meet new people and establish a rapport with them.
Then again, perhaps as someone with a reasonable number of international students surrounding various aspects of my life my experiences are different, but I don't think so.
It isn't necessarily to do with experiences and understanding, but rather attitude and a fair quantity of ignorance on both parts. Aberdeen can occasionally not be the friendliest place. People tend to keep themselves to themselves, which can sometimes be misconstrued as being "up themselves" or egotistical, which is not necessarily true, but can make it seem difficult for those not used to the culture. I don't find Glasgow to be so much like that (perhaps with the exception to the Celtic/Rangers debate/dilemma/fighting that goes on - I never will understand, but then, I'm not a football-type person..) which could be why I find it easier to make friends in Glasgow. That said, usually Aberdeen is fine - all it takes is for you to take the lead and speak to them. If I listened to my introverted self all the time, I doubt I would get on so well with the people I do. It takes work from both sides, though. The other side just sometimes needs a bit of a push.
Has this gone off track?
...Oh, never mind...
it always gets bad when people interpret things the wrong way. personally I also wonder what kind of magical live that student must live to be able to afford a holiday to Bali :p for me holiday's where difficult even when I was working 5 day's a week.
ReplyDeleteExactly. Most students I know get by from month to month, and are lucky to be able to save at all, even when working almost to exhaustion, since Aberdeen is such an expensive city (oil and gas industry sent rent prices much higher than other Scottish cities, but students are still living on the same incomes as everywhere else). I am lucky that I get to go away abroad sometimes with the band, but they're considered working trips for the most part - an actual holiday I could only dream of.
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