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I dont completely agree with your last statement that students from other countries prefer to make friends with others from their own culture. I have seen alot of dutch people in my country before coming to the Netherlands and they have been very nice people.I also see my friends from especially the social sciences group really having good dutch friends that they hung around with. However, I have a totally different experience with the dutch colleagues.In class, as soon as you an international student, especially from Asia or Africa sit in a particular row, no dutch student will come there and I have even had an ugly experience when I sat by one and she chnaged a seat. With group, it even amazes me, that you work so well with people and after that period, you will even see the person and sile at the person or even say hi and the person ignores you. It hurts alot an sometimes I even wonder if such people ever find their way into government whether the generosity of the dutch governtment to less endowed students in Africa and Asis will survive. I have tried but it just looks like I have a different set of duthies around me. I think the student council and the university authority needs to do more to build a more inegrated student society, since some of us ineternational students feel so lonely and hardly know nothing about the dutch people, which should not be the case. Its true we are here to study, but socialising is also important.