robzilla71173 t1_izfaotp wrote on December 8, 2022 at 6:09 PM

It's not that bad actually. I don't know where you're coming from, but if it's a larger city you're probably going to find it much safer here than where you were.

I work at MSU and a lot of my friends work with international students (or are international themselves.) Check out the Morris Center if you haven't already, they can help a lot and you'll be in good company. Some cool people there. https://map.missouristate.edu/location.aspx?id=30

shizkc t1_izns0s4 wrote on December 10, 2022 at 2:19 PM

I’ve talked to a lot of south Asian and middle eastern people who definitely do not feel safer in the US, specifically Missouri. Like the whole “always lock your door” thing was a culture shock.

robzilla71173 t1_izob8bx wrote on December 10, 2022 at 4:44 PM

I'm sure everyone will have differing experiences. Always locking my door would be a culture shock to me as well.

As someone who works and socializes with international staff and students at msu I feel confident in saying they'll be okay. Crime generally isn't as bad as those studies show here unless you're a part of it by choice and the op is moving into an environment where they'll have lots of support and fellow international students to help them learn their way around.

shizkc t1_izp48zy wrote on December 10, 2022 at 8:03 PM

Oh I know they’ll be fine. I just always find it funny the different ways we look at each others home countries.

Where do you live that you’re not locking your door? I mean, car doors? Fuck that, rather just take out valuables than deal with a broken window. But I’ve had at least two people fidget with my door on the south ish side after midnight. They were probably just fucked up, but I’m not risking someone walking into my house.

robzilla71173 t1_izqlrvl wrote on December 11, 2022 at 2:53 AM

You even lock doors while you're home? I leave the front door open whenever I'm home so my cat can give some stink eye to the neighbors cat. He does the same for his cat. Those cats sure hate each other. I usually lock my front door if I'm going to be gone more than a couple hours, and I lock my car overnight but that's about it. Haven't locked the back door in 20 years.

I'm sort of north central/east. I find it funny that this reddit group seems to view the parts of town I'm from as some sort of post apocalyptic wasteland full of meth fueled warlords. I tease my parents about that. They've lived in grant Beach for about 45 years. Also never had any problems. Most of the north side is lower income but that doesn't necessarily mean higher crime. There are certainly bad areas, but they're generally easy to spot and avoid.

In an ironic twist, much of our crime around this part of town takes place in hotels and businesses owned by persons from the subcontinent. My friend Rishi can tell some wild stories about n. Glenstone hotels he's worked at.