This is nothing personal against any Canadians or internationals; it doesn't matter where in the world you go. It's reality. I had difficulties finding local friends. I started in grade 12. These students have known each other since primary school and have already established their close group of friends. I was just another exchange student. In Norway we don't have that many international students, which make them more noticeable and interesting. However there are no good excuses. I was not good enough to make any school sport teams, and I was not too interested in joining any clubs. I don't regret anything. That's a waste of time. Yet, if I were to do it all over again, I would have been more patient and less selective. Unfortunately I did not realize this until I got into rugby (no try outs). Suddenly I had 22 new friends who all shared the same passion for this crazy sport. Being a part of a team is the best feeling in the world, and joining rugby was one of the best decisions i made.
Before making this post longer and adding more irrelevant facts to the story; I've come up with some tips which I hope will help future exchange students.
- Be open-minded and patient
- Take initiative
- Say yes, even though you prefer not to
- Try, more than once
- Make an effort
- Take a step or two outside your comfort zone
- Ask and show interest, sometimes you might even have to feel annoying
- Put aside prejudgments and give people a chance
To avoid any confusion, beeing friends with internationals are just as important as getting along with locals. That's my opinion at least. Although being so many exchange students made it a bit more challenging to get close with Canadians, I am overly grateful to have so many amazing and unique friends around the world (I already wrote a post about how awesome international students are: here). I woudn't have it any other way.