Due to the author being some 50+ years old, our group finds it hard to believe that some of her comments are valid. She could never really get a realistic perspective on what it is like to be a modern day, teenage college student. It’s a good thing she includes information and comments from interviews and student diaries to support or reject her observations and conclusions. While she is doing considerably well to acclimate herself into the college life and a variety of activities, you can’t help but feel there is a lot going on without her knowing or being able to join. In chapter 3 Nathan talks about student “networks” a great deal. She observes that a lot of students form groups or are closest to fellow peers who they either know from high school or they met within in the first week; once they have such close connections, or groups, any other outsiders find it especially difficult to break in or join them in their different activities together. Nathan was especially surprised at the lack of friendships that were made due to students being in the same class. Our group however did not consider any of this really surprising. Everyone has the same opportunity to a great college experience, they are going to get out of it what they choose to put into it. We believe that despite the numerous clubs, classes, and activities available to the modern day college student that are always changing, students will find time to get involved in things they are interested in and become close to students who share their interests. A student doesn’t have join a sorority or acquire a large group of students to make up their “network”, they can have just as many experiences with one or two close friends. We felt the authors tone was almost condescending to such students who chose to eat alone or were seen with the same group of people in the dining hall every day. In our own personal experiences we would all fall under the category of having made a “network” of a select few close, personal friends. We do not feel as if we are worse off, or missing out on anything by choosing to hang out with the same people everyday. Around the time this book was written, myspace and facebook were just starting to blow up. Nathan notices whole conversations and plans being made without a single word being uttered between friends. By writing on a friends message board, or sending a quick wall post or text, students are communicating in a way that ensures no outsiders can get involved. Our group could definitely relate to this, we live in this age of technology. It was really interesting to read comments on it from Nathan’s point of view. She may be getting socialized via face-to-face interactions, but she is missing out on the technology interactions that are going on behind computer passwords. She is from a time where there was only one TV in the whole dorm hall, and that was in the common lounge. Students went in there to watch TV, have movie nights, and socialize, nowadays such lounges are used for studying, talking on the phone, and basically an escape from noise or interactions with the student’s roommate. Nathan is completely unfamiliar with such a concept, where as we can’t imagine it being any other way. We all have TVs in our room, and would much rather get together our closest friends to watch something largely advertised like a football game just us than go out and have to interact with strangers. In this way Nathan is biased when addressing the flaws of social “networks”. Our group was a little confused as to whether or not Nathan was trying to sound open minded and neutral about the subject of community, students meeting students, and getting involved, but it sounded very opinionated to us. It contradicted how we all felt and this made it somewhat hard to read and relate to.
Many foreign students had the same expectations when they came to America about how hospitable or friendly fellow students would be, but they are quick to learn that they had the wrong idea. Nathan made it clear through her interviews and research that international students feel that Americans are ignorant and self-involved. They complained that US students did not ask any questions about their home country or culture. They argued that if the situation were reversed, people in their country would have taken the visiting Americans out to dinner and carried on long conversations with them, very interested to hear what they would have to share about their own lives. They also complained that, as foreigners, they were having a hard time adjusting to American customs. Even if a peer offers up a friendly "hello" or "how are you?" it is usually empty, with no real concern as to how they are; Americans use this as a casual hi/bye, they aren't really trying to start a conversation. Some international students agreed that this relationship, or lack thereof, was easier, because they didn’t feel the need to worry about their roommate or other students all the time, and could worry more about themselves.
When reading this chapter, we compared Nathan’s interviews, data, and information to our own lives. It is very beneficial being a student reading this book, we feel like we are the ideal audience for this book. When reading Nathan’s book, we try to compare who anthropologist’s assumptions to our own firsthand experiences. One thing we do not agree with is her conclusion about Americans not reaching out to foreign students. In most cases, we personally can say that we feel awkward or disrespectful approaching an international student and asking them to talk about themselves just because they are foreign.
Many foreign students had the same expectations when they came to America about how hospitable or friendly fellow students would be, but they are quick to learn that they had the wrong idea. Nathan made it clear through her interviews and research that international students feel that Americans are ignorant and self-involved. They complained that US students did not ask any questions about their home country or culture. They argued that if the situation were reversed, people in their country would have taken the visiting Americans out to dinner and carried on long conversations with them, very interested to hear what they would have to share about their own lives. They also complained that, as foreigners, they were having a hard time adjusting to American customs. Even if a peer offers up a friendly "hello" or "how are you?" it is usually empty, with no real concern as to how they are; Americans use this as a casual hi/bye, they aren't really trying to start a conversation. Some international students agreed that this relationship, or lack thereof, was easier, because they didn’t feel the need to worry about their roommate or other students all the time, and could worry more about themselves.
When reading this chapter, we compared Nathan’s interviews, data, and information to our own lives. It is very beneficial being a student reading this book, we feel like we are the ideal audience for this book. When reading Nathan’s book, we try to compare who anthropologist’s assumptions to our own firsthand experiences. One thing we do not agree with is her conclusion about Americans not reaching out to foreign students. In most cases, we personally can say that we feel awkward or disrespectful approaching an international student and asking them to talk about themselves just because they are foreign.
Nathan ends this section almost complaining that professors are too easy to reach by students. On the first day of class, many professors offered up their e-mail addresses and sometimes their office or home phone number. This compromises the professional relationship between teacher and student. She puts the issue up for debate, whether or not professors should make themselves so available and try and have a friendly relationship with their students. Many international students made similar comments and had similar opinions.
Journal #2 by Dan Lewis
Throughout the book this far I think that Nathan is doing a good job getting to know the college life giving her restrictions. Seeing how she is over 50 years old it is hard for her to be able to talk to and hang out with 18-22 year old college students. She does a good job in getting interviews and using current students way of thinking compared to just how she may see it through her eyes. One aspect of her research that I tend to disagree with however is how in chapter 4 she talks about how international students see American students. It is very interesting to read what the international kids have to say but it is almost unfair to American students because Nathan never interviews them. The international students will talk about how Americans are not as welcoming as their country would be or how they are disrespectful in the classroom. It would only be reasonable for Nathan to then get the American students point of view so that the information was not so bias.
Nathan almost uses a sad tone in her writing almost as if she feels bad and guilty for how international students are treated. She talks about how she quenched as she thought about kids saying “We should hang out sometime” or “Stop on by” but they new that it would never really happen. It was interesting when Nathan asked the Japanese girl to get dinner with her sometime and the girl simply asked how it is possible without having each others numbers. It makes me realize as a reader how much technology really has taken over in a current day teenager’s life.
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