“I try talking to English students all the time, but they just look at me, mumble, and turn away,” said a new Thai student who only recently arrived in England. I nodded my head in agreement with her and remembered how very few Thai students who study in the UK will ever be able to overcome the linguistic, social and cultural barriers to an extent that they would become best mates with an English student.

The linguistic barriers are just the beginning, and perceptive Thai students starting off their academic journey in the UK will immediately see how little patience some English local students have for those do not speak English as their first language.

English nationals who are in the service industry will portray more patience, but the patronising tone several use to talk to international students is quite obvious. English students can be much worse. They will be polite enough to try to understand a few words international students say, but turn away at the first opportunity.

Linguistic barriers aren’t the only reason though, because social and cultural barriers play a very strong role in this unfortunate divide between international and English students.

Actually, scrap the politically correct and ambiguous mention of social and cultural barriers: The crux of English university student life, apart from the occasional exams and essays, is the parties at night.

English students will not hesitate to spend £30-40 out each night to get as drunk as possible. This is the only time any of them will let their guards down. During the day, the English are extremely private people, with many walking around with their friends like they do not know each other. After a good number of cheap and cheerful pints, conversations begin, women flirt, and they suddenly show their friendly human side.

International students who get along best with English students are those who will go out at night and at least have a few drinks. Otherwise, you’re no fun, and you’re simply not part of the group.

Most international students try to be friendly during the day, but refuse to go out at night. Thai students, in particular, are more used to a night out munching on endless dishes of food, over a quarter bottle of whiskey heavily diluted with a mixer.

Obviously, being able to go out and get wasted at night isn’t an assurance for acceptance into the English student society. You also get judged by your personality, the confidence you exude, and how good at ‘banter’ you are. The shy and the uninteresting can quickly become outcasts. Even when you’ve overcome all these barriers, there’s still that sense that you’re an outsider which will keep you from transcending the divide.

Most Thai students will despair at these differences, give up, and group together with international students instead. I don’t blame them, even though it means that we are as guilty for sustaining the divide as the English are. It took me four years of being in halls in a resident tutor-like capacity to become accepted into the English student life. This isn’t an alternative for most Thais who study here.

Unlike my other blogs where I try to suggest a solution, I leave this question in the open as an illustration of the present status quo. I sometimes wonder whether this divide exists in the United States, Australia, or New Zealand. This divide is, indeed, one of the most frustrating issues of being an international student in the UK.