ting
i
Tokyo?
Lving
into
the
minds
of
international
students
5w2raiHnH
ule
"The
i
are
longer
-
they
go
fr
to
June,
then
July
to
sr,
and
a
degree
is
five
.with
a
thesis."
;
as
simple
as
gro
ping
brought
forth
i
from
Liliana.
"They
ra
sell
the
things
I
am
Lthe
meat
is
different,
the
i
are
different,
even
the
not
Be,"
What
"All
we
did
was
exchange
gifts
and
eat.
And
eat
and
eat
and
eat!"
Liliana
laughs
now
at
her
story
but
still
seems
astonished
with
her
experience.
r
my
next
appointment,
i
common
area
amidst
stries
and
masks
and
the
daily
bustle
and
fie
Centre.
The
staff
was
and
out
of
rooms,
rnew
students,
oversee-
i
in
transit,
arranging
accommodations,
ticket
cancellations,
with
test
appointments,
greeting
anyone
who
the
door.
My
next
t
soon
arrived
m
was
willing
to
discuss
i
-5
Svc--1S-
-
J-
Trrs&rWVfcrs.,OT,.jJ:
iSr-
'Ej-aKr','.
some
of
the
challenges
of
being
an
international
student
in
Canada.
She
had
already
studied
in
her
home
country
of
Japan
for
four
years
before
deciding
to
get
her
Accounting
and
Finance
diploma
at
CNC.
The
first
hurdle
was
Nairn's
initial
exposure
to
the
BC
Interior.
"The
airport
was
a
shock!"
she
said,
"It
was
just
a
small
building!"
Nami
confided
that
she
got
very
homesick
and
would
have
gone
home,
if
she
had
a
return
ticket.
"College
is
harder
here,
people
are
so
motivated!"
She
compared
it
to
her
university
experi
ences
in
Tokyo,
noting
that,
"getting
into
university
was
the
hardest,
graduating
is
easy,
and
students
can
get
lazy"
Nami
explained
that
when
she
was
in
high
school
she
had
to
decide
immediately
whether
or
not
to
take
the
very
difficult
entrance
exams,
which
cost
a
lot
of
money.
It
seems
that
one
of
the
common
traits
between
Canadian
and
Japanese
college
students
is
the
ugly
necessity
of
student
loans
to
pay
for
their
education.
Sure,
the
differences
&m
lilrlliP1
between
international
students
are
easy
to
detect,
but
it
takes
only
a
bit
of
time
and
energy
to
determine
the
similarities.
I
ran
across
some
universal
concerns;
whether
you
are
from
Bangkok
or
Red
Rock
the
transition
from
high
school
to
college
is
a
shock,
accounting
is
a
challenge
whether
or
not
English
is
your
first
language,
and
there
sometimes
never
seems
to
be
anything
to
do
on
a
Friday
night
I
only
talked
to
four
students,
there
are
146
interesting
people
left
that
have
plenty
to
say.
The
International
Friendship
Club
is
open
to
every
student
at
CNC,
Veronica
Murphy
Features
Editor
and
posters
with
meeting
dates
can
be
found
all
over
the
campus
As
Maryann
noted,
"studying
The
first
hurdle
was
Nami's
initial
exposure
to
the
BC
Interior.
"The
airport
was
a
shock!"
she
said,
"It
was
just
a
small
building!"
abroad
is
a
life-altering
experience"
-
befriending
one
of
our
international
guests
could
easily
be
a
life-altering
experience
for
you
too
ELT
Is
'no
walk
In
the
woods'
The
ELT
(English
Language
Training)
program
has
been
jn
operation
at
CNC
for
as
long
as
Jolanta
Caputa,
ELTESL
instructor,
can
recall.
And
according
Jolanta
the
testing
is
surprisingly
difficult
ELT
students
are
tested
on
their
listening
skills,
short
conversation
abilities,
and
comprehension
of
idiosyncratic
expressions.
Students
must
listen
to
three
to
four
minute
long
lectures
or
speeches
and
answer
detailed
questions
about
what
they
have
heard.
They
are
not
allowed
to
take
any
notes,
and
have
to
rely
on
their
memory
to
recall
facts,
figures,
and
details.
"I'm
sure
that
if
you
gave
this
test
to
any
regular
CNC
student,
they
would
fail
it,"
Jolanta
said.
The
grammar
section
is
especially
difficult"
Although
there
are
four
levels
in
the
ELT
program,
students
who
take
the
placement
testing
and
are
already
equipped
with
some
English
skills
often
skip
levels.
While
there
are
currently
students
in
every
level
offered,
ELT
students
at
CNC
usually
fall
into
the
intermediate
or
advanced
cate-
gories.
v
The
ELT
program
is
also
specially
designed
to
practice
and
polish
a
'?
number
of
academic
skills,
such
as
reading
academic
texts
and
writing
.
essays.
-.h4h