i can't breathe! you smell awful!!!!

you must start with a casual conversation, for example, how long you not use perfume? if he answered never use perfume, proceed only with the core issue if you want to complain about body odor him

Ooh, that's awful. I've also tried to hold my breath sometimes when a person smells bad. When the person leaves, I go directly in front of the electric fan and catch my breath As for the foreign student you mentioned, I think there are cultures wherein that smell is actually all right for them. I wouldn't know how to tell that person because I don't know how he will react. If it's a culture thing, I wouldn't want to offend him. ^.^'

Well, somehow you need to find a way to politely confront him, and maybe ask if he needs stuff like Shampoo, soap.. does he have any Clean clothes, deodrant etc. Maybe even offer to help him get some of this stuff if need be as well. He might not realize he smells like this, or too ashamed to ask for help, or realize he needs help as well. If that does not work than hopefully something will happen that he will try to change things as well. But I work with someone that wears pretty much the same clothes day in and out, and smells like BO, etc. everyday and it is Grouse. It makes you want to gag anytime you have to be around him. We gave him different clothes just a little over a yr. ago and now he wears the pants all the time not caring if he smells, or they are clean etc. We have confronted him, made comments to our supervisor, etc. to no avail. But hopefully in time, your situation will change for the better.

ugh this is a hard one.. i have had several people like that in my life and i couldnt bring myself to tell them and i saw some one tell them and saw how bad it hurt them that i was glad i did not bring it up.. but the poor thing isnt going to make any friends if he smells so bad!! is there anyone over him since he is a transfer student that could mention it? like a mentor or something? i dont think that its always the best for some one of the same age range to bring it up because some times it makes them think that you may have been talking about them..

That's a tough one. I think that I would get him a welcome package. I would get some things like deoderant and maybe a nice cologne. I would just say it was a little welcome to the school thing. LOL..I wouldn't just get that..maybe you could get a few other little things too.

This is definitely going to be a difficult subject to try to approach. Obviously, you don't want to hurt his feelings, but you also don't want to have to offend your own nostrils so to speak. I would try to talk to him in places that are more neutral if it is at all possible. If you are in open air such as outdoors you won't be able to smell him as much and then perhaps some time there will be a lead that you can discuss types of soap, deodorent, etc.

It may be that he eats different food than you are used to smelling and it comes out in his perspiration. Or he may not wash his clothes enough. Sometimes you can tell people this and they just do not listen. You might just be friendly and show him where a lot of things are--like the laundry facility, and what kinds of body fresheners (deoderants, soaps and colognes) are available where you are,that might be different from his country. It might be better if a guy told a guy this, though.

Well... It is not a new problem to me either... I have always tended to avoid such people.. They were not loners of course! But in your case, this guy really needs help.. I suggest you meet him outside only, build a good relationship... And one day just go to a store with him, saying that you want to buy something.. over there, try suggesting him to buy a good DEO! Just say that it'll go wonderfully with him... I am sure he'll not reject your offer... :) Have fun and yeah, let us know how it goes... :)

LOL I have a close friend that smells awful also when i near him, but since we are close friend so i can just tell him that he smells bad XD after all it's for his own good. He seems to be insulted a bit when i said it, but later he learned to use deodorant :D and now he doesn't smell that bad anymore, and we are still a close friend :) And if i still feel he's smell bad again, i'll just say "have you washed that clothes recently? it smells bad" while pointing at him. ^_^

Don't worry that's a common negative of foreigners. Don't worry they will slowly learn, but don't be mean to him. If you want to hint him, make sure that you are light. In the mean time, try to keep a distance for the next few weeks, or offer gum, deodorant, etc. I used to not care about hygiene as much, but as I grew older I changed.

It's the food that they eat that's causing the odor. Maybe too much onions? Even if you drop hints in conversations, I'm sure he won't pick up on it because his sense of smell is already so immune to the odor that he wouldn't find anything wrong with him. I think what you need is to open up your mind, and let him be. If you know any foreigners personally, you could ask them the same question as it relates to you. You'd be surprised to learn that you also have a 'sweet' smell that other races pick up on.

Are you very close with him? If not, then maybe you might want to try another way out. Have a packet of sweets with you, especially mint flavors ones. Treat him to the sweet and take one for yourself whenever you two needs to chat. It will help you (I guess) without hurting his feelings. Unless you are really close with him, then I will try to bring up the topic and talk to him directly. But that's if you know it won't hurt his pride.

I once worked in the Middle East country and there you can find different nationalities. There I observed nationalities with terrible smell that can even suffocate especially in the closed areas. The smell comes from their body and and in some cases in their mouth mostly caused by the food they take like lots of chilis, curries, onions and the likes. We may find it really awful, but to them they will not notice because its normal when most of them have the same odor. Indirectly, I took some topics about hygiene and things to be done before going to work or school and it did work for some but not all. Some cultures, no matter where we are have to be reviewed and make adjustment/s in favor of the host country we are with.

So nice of you, not hurting his feelings. I imagine myself in that same situation will be so horrible because of the smell. But i think rather being hones to him ( because i dont want to hurt his feelings) I would just spend more money on buying a mentol candy and i will offer that to him. Then hoping that he will understand why and hoping that he will do something about it or else.lol God bless

hello donnakristel, maybe you can give him a present- a deodorant- if you meet him again. No need a birthday to give him this present, just tell him that you find a nice thing for him. It works on me.

Oh gee that's really hard. If you are really brave enough, you can try to be frank with him about it. I've had this situation before when my seatmate who was sitting beside the electric fan and when the temperature really got humid, she started to smell and all the wind from the fan was directed to me. You must have imagined the kind of situation I was in. It was daily dose of poisonous gas! I never had the guts to tell her. There was only one instance when a classmate who was also fed up with her smell, finally yelled, "The room smells like ONION! Use a deo whoever you are!" She didn;t really direct it at her but I guess my seatmate realized she was being talked about. Days after that she didn't smell anymore. Of course it's not all the time that somebody will stand up and shout in behalf of everybody. If you are brave enough, tell him. If not, you can try to slip a note into his bag, or locker.....be discreet and anonymous and tip him of his smell.

LOL maybe i will tell him straight that i dont like his smell or i dont like the smell of his perfume. usually do that before specially if i really dont like the smell then i really become so frank to him though i will also tell him that im quite sensitive with the male perfume coz they are too strong. but then its a body odor then i guess ii will also tell him that he might forgot to put some deodorant.