Settling international students

STORY BY PALWASHA TEMOR

The start of a new school year causes stress and excitement for everyone, but some face challenge Canadian-born students will never know.

Haoran Wang, 27, packed up his life and came to a new country and is trying to adjust to his environment, all while being in school.

Currently studying Architectural Technology at Davis Campus, Wang has been in Canada for about a week and living in Brampton with a Canadian family.

“Canadian people are so kind, because the first day I came here I lost my bag, which was very important to me and finally the staff at the airport helped me find it,” Wang said in an email interview.

With his first dilemma quickly handled and taken care of, Wang was able to move in with the Luyben family in Brampton.

“I have more responsibility now because I have to provide his meals everyday and get back from work on time to make him a decent meal,” said Karen Luyben, 54. “It’s like having a fourth son but the language barrier kind of poses some problems but for the most part, communication is pretty straightforward.”

“I think Canada is a multiculture country, a little different from what I thought, but it’s cool,” said Wang. “I come from Shanghai, which is a metropolis city and is a little bit different from other cities in China, so I don’t feel strange about it.”

Now that Wang is settled and has started school, he misses things from back home, like food.

Wang also mentions that the language barrier is a bit of an issue for him, but that he plans on learning English to help himself.

The Sheridan International Student Centre aims to help international students adjust to being in Canada, and offer a wide variety of services such as information about health insurance, on-campus employment, Social Insurance Number card information, scholarships and academic awards.

With approximately 1,400 new international students coming this year, the International Student Centre provides services to help new students adjust to their new environments.

“We have a bus tour to help them familiarize themselves of their surroundings on campus. We also give them a map that helps them to know where places are, such as banks and food spots and gives them an idea of what’s in the area,” said Elena Shik, the International Student Coordinator.

“It helps because they’re on a bus with other students, as well as peer mentors so that they can connect with each other.”