sneaks/phdbug, this isn't helping. I think you need to sing the national anthem...

which one? Isn't the British National Anthem "fight for this love" by cheryl cole?

I'm afraid I am going to disagree with you also. I am not British and I have never felt as an outsider in UK, nor had I experienced racism in any form, and I have studied in 4 unis as well (as an Erasmus student, 2 masters and my PhD).
Of course, I don't imply here that you haven't experienced what you say you did, but maybe you need to think about some things... Is it possible that maybe you are doing something (I don't like the word "wrong", but) not right? Surely, as I see in this forum, there are many international students, and I didn't read any other post like yours.... I don't think that if British people were all racists, nobody would have a similar experience to share......
Finally, judging a whole country by the behaviour of only one person (or even more people) it is very unfair. I am Greek, and we had the reputation of being lazy, of partying, of eating and drinking etc...but are we all like this? Noooooo (well maybe the preference for good food is something common in all of us;-) )

Hmm, so far the only hint of racism I've seen here is from Jojo his/herself, who has denounced the British in their entirety.

I'll probably be labelled presumtuous for this, but could your own attitude be driving people away Jojo?

======= Date Modified 03 Dec 2009 20:23:11 =======
I'd love to see the research which presents the 90% of international students your situation applies to Jojo.



In my opinion, and evidenced by the comments here, you are in fact in the minority here.



Again, as I've said before, why post on a forum if you're unwilling to listen to the opinions of others?



Perhaps I'm being presumptious.

I am also not from the UK originally. Like others, I have had overwhelmingly positive experiences here - to be honest, I couldn't imagine living anywhere else! I have been a student at 5 universities (yes, I am quite old ...) and I have never felt that I was treated differently because I'm not British. The claim that 90% of international students can't wait to leave doesn't ring true for me - the majority of international students I have known (and I've studied with quite a lot of international students) have decided to stay in the UK. Of course that's not going to be the case for everybody, but please don't generalise - either about the British (I certainly haven't found them cold!) or about what international students think.

I'm really sorry that you haven't enjoyed your time here. How much longer are you staying here?

This thread is sad.

I am from the UK but study overseas. Obviously it isn't possibly to generalise to a whole country, but overall I find people in the UK to be more miserable and pessimistic to people here. I never noticed it when I lived there but it was because I had nothing else to compare it to. Maybe it's the weather.

Although, as an overseas student I do feel more isolated here than I think I would studying in the UK. Being 'a foreigner' automatically makes you 'different' so sometimes it feels like people treat you like an outsider, even if this is not what they intend. This has been my experience anyway. Perhaps, you are taking things the wrong way. Are there other international students you could talk to to gain some perspective on this?

======= Date Modified 04 Dec 2009 13:07:47 =======
How does this story end? Did Jojo go home?

She's Swedish. I heard she took an ikea chair to work, stood on it and sung the Swedish national anthem, then threw meatballs at her colleagues.

Do you know Cloggsy, I'll never understand genius. Maybe because your IQ is 10 times the size of the average reasonably capable person, but is there any need for saying something like that? Maybe it's just a sign of how simple everything in the world is to you that's making you frustrated. Why not do something useful while your prepare for you viva, like solve the energy crisis? It shouldn't take someone like you long, should it?

I already solved the energy crisis - walk everywhere and have a blanket

and carbon footprints - trees.

Hmm, quite a good solution there Sneaks, but I think I can advance it. Everyone should do a PhD and receive the average PhD stipend. That way, no one would be able to afford to use their heating, buy lots of stuff that requires energy intensive processes or run a car very much. Plus everyone would be too busy to have babies (in the main) solving the population crisis. The only problem would be the strain on the NHS mental health services.

I'm not really up on my politics but isn't that a bit like communisim Wal?

I just laughed when I saw scientists were trying to develop these huge sail type things that 'catch' CO2 and then store it under ground - a tree does that but it makes a tree out of it!!

Smells like communism to me too. Burn it!