With piles of documents to fill in, courses to choose, English assessments to take, campus activities to participate in and a jetlag to deal with, some new international students already feel as tired as if they were in the middle of a semester under piles of assignments.
This year, St. Thomas University welcomed about 20 new international students from all over the world.
More than half of them arrived a few days before Welcome Week so they could adjust themselves to a new life with a different culture.
As soon as they arrived, they participated in campus activities and orientations arranged for them.
There were campus tours, information sessions on health care, GST, banking and more, and English assessments for some new international students.
All the sessions are important since even small things like opening a bank account in another language can be a struggle.
Tomoe Kanagawa is a new international student from Japan. She arrived in Fredericton late at night but did all the activities and orientations the next day.
“I only slept four hours and now I’m doing all the activities,” she said. “There are a lot of things to learn before I can actually settle in, so I already feel a little bit tired.”
Most of the new international students have a little time to settle in and adjust to their new life after they arrive in Fredericton, since there are so many things to catch up first.
Veronica Aycinena is another new international student from Guatemala. She got to Fredericton on the day when orientations for new international students were held.
She said she thinks there are too many things to do before finally being able to have time to adjust herself to a new way of life in Canada.
“I just arrived here so I’m a little tired,” said Aycinena. “My environment back home is opposite to this environment. I don’t think I have time to adjust, I just have to deal with it and I hope I’ll be fine.”
This year, St. Thomas University welcomed about 20 new international students from all over the world.
More than half of them arrived a few days before Welcome Week so they could adjust themselves to a new life with a different culture.
As soon as they arrived, they participated in campus activities and orientations arranged for them.
There were campus tours, information sessions on health care, GST, banking and more, and English assessments for some new international students.
All the sessions are important since even small things like opening a bank account in another language can be a struggle.
Tomoe Kanagawa is a new international student from Japan. She arrived in Fredericton late at night but did all the activities and orientations the next day.
“I only slept four hours and now I’m doing all the activities,” she said. “There are a lot of things to learn before I can actually settle in, so I already feel a little bit tired.”
Most of the new international students have a little time to settle in and adjust to their new life after they arrive in Fredericton, since there are so many things to catch up first.
Veronica Aycinena is another new international student from Guatemala. She got to Fredericton on the day when orientations for new international students were held.
She said she thinks there are too many things to do before finally being able to have time to adjust herself to a new way of life in Canada.
“I just arrived here so I’m a little tired,” said Aycinena. “My environment back home is opposite to this environment. I don’t think I have time to adjust, I just have to deal with it and I hope I’ll be fine.”
