Lots of gems here, ironically, it reads like something Winston would write, but it's apparently a serious official site telling Chinese students about the wonderful "social skills" and American way of interacting with people. Here's some quotes.
Generally speaking, Americans are cautious about getting into close relationships with other people, including other Americans. They value independence, privacy, and self-reliance. They generally do not want to become dependent on other people or have other people dependent on them. This contrasts noticeably with the Chinese orientation, in which interdependence with other people is generally considered necessary and desirable.
DISTINGUISHING BETWEEN SUPERFICIAL FRIENDLINESS AND GENUINE INTEREST
Chinese and other foreign students in the United States often feel misled and even betrayed by Americans who seem so friendly at first but then turn out to be uninterested and perhaps cold and distant.
Most Americans will fairly readily meet new people in a warm, friendly manner. They will smile, say hello, introduce themselves, and carry on a friendly-seeming conversation about some simple topic.
Later, though, those same Americans may forget entirely about the interaction, and not even remember they have met the new person.
This leads some foreigners to conclude that the Americans are superficial, devious, dishonest, “not really human.”
Foreigners need to realize that the initial, warm greeting and conversation is part of a social ritual. It does not normally convey, to other Americans, any special interest or any intention to pursue the relationship later.
Foreigners need to pay particular attention to what is said in these initial conversations. If the conversation goes into some detail about people’s personal situations, or if it contains explicit statements about seeing each other again, then the foreigner can suppose the American has genuine interest in meeting again.
Otherwise, the apparent friendliness is simply polite behavior.
Foreigners anywhere may have difficulty finding local people to have conversations with. The difficulty might be greater in the United States than in many other places, because Americans are so “busy.” Also, Americans tend to be cautious about getting involved with other people. And they do not place a high value on being good hosts in the way people in some other parts of the world do.
Foreigners in the United States typically find it easier to get to know people from their own or other countries than with Americans.
Many Chinese and other foreigners in the United States come to believe that friendships among Americans tend to be shorter and less intense than those in their own countries. They notice that Americans tend to "compartmentalize" their friendships, having their "friends from class," "friends from home," a "tennis friend," and so on. Some Americans have what they call “friends with benefits” or “friends-plus.” These are people with whom they share sexual activity even though they do not have an exclusive or long-term commitment to each other.
While some American students have close friends--people with whom they share intimate thoughts and feelings and with whom they share a deep sense of obligation--such relationships seem less common among Americans than among people in many other societies. Many of the people Americans call their “friends” would be called “acquaintances” elsewhere. Americans are likely to know many people, but not be especially close to them.
