- attend a university that has as few minorities as possible, so that it makes you 'special' (instead of "that another foreign pest") and that it also gives you a sense of urgency to fit in to the mainstream community really quickly
- take up courses that are popular with the local students and least popular amongst fellow overseas students. You will definitely get ‘global’ opinions during class discussions
- if you somehow could, major in (1) Political Science (2) Geography & Environmental Studies, and then along the way do as vast a variety of types of units as possible in order to not only help fulfill your course requirements but also acquire very wide knowledge of all worldly matters
- be as friendly as possible to just about anyone but have as few friends to walk around with at the same time as it helps you get ‘global friends'. ‘Global friends’ won’t approach you if you are always within a group
- do at least one overseas Summer course where you will have to survive with some of the local uni students who are all now in a foreign land. But be sure to be the only foreigner out of the rest of the people in the group doing the course. You are sure to learn so much not only about the new foreign land, but also about the people you will have to survive with.
- join the university’s sports clubs. Best is, if you are the only foreigner in your team. There you will learn the politics in sports and enjoy the additional events that come with it. You will also learn how training is carried out, understand what the priority of the team is and see how a coach manages his team!
- grab one non-heterosexual (if you are heterosexual) person and make him/her your best friend. Overtime, you will have lots of non-heterosexual ideas (thru conversations with that new best friend) and acquire better knowledge/understanding of the people contrary to your nature
- listen to the local radio station every day and at all times. By doing so, you get some ideas as to the type of music the locals listen to and perhaps also, eventually understand their jokes (and get their lingo)!
- read the local newspapers and magazines and watch the local current affairs programs. They may usually be politically one-sided but heck cares! you get to hear their political viewpoint.
- go on a relationship with someone who comes from a place/country you are not familiar with! Foreign partners really help transform one into thinking out of his/her 'usual' box!
- choose to live with a fellow uni student who comes from some other part of the world different to yours. You will definitely learn how living, lifestyle and 'home-y' things like cooking, division of chores and settling of bills are done by different individuals coming from different backgrounds.
- take up a role in the executive committee of a university cultural club and help organize events with the cooperation of the rest of the committee and its members. Here you will learn not only the job culture of the club, most of which happens to be the politics of the certain community the majority is coming from but also what becomes their main concern and how they handle problems.
- have breakfast, lunch, tea, or dinner or simply coffee with fellow locals and their family members either at their home, your home or anywhere outside! In doing so, you will learn lots of stuff, including the local’s table manners, the local ways to having good conversation, their manners of speech, their preferred topics of conversation, the course of meals they have, etc.
What else is there, let me see...
Perhaps these are all I have for now. Extras will be added later.
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