INSIDE DOUGLAS COLLEGE /JULY 17, 1990

 

 

Students cross cultures in summer program

A summer program offered by
International Education and
the English as a Second Lan-

guage Program, mixing students from

Quebec and Japan in English classes,

trips and social activities ended on

June 29th. The graduation ceremony

included this Valedictorian address,

given by Miss Asako Shimizu, from

Saitama, Japan:

"I can hardly believe it, but we
are finishing this program today.
Six weeks sounds long but it’s too
short!

Before the students from
Quebec came here, we Japanese
students studied English and basic
Canadian background for two
weeks. During that time, one of
our teachers said, "Quebeckers are
really cheerful: so don’t be afraid,
don’t be shy, don’t be defeated!"

Most of us didn’t know about
Quebec so we were really looking

forward to meeting the Quebeck-
ers. But remember the first lunch
time? We were seated separately
and during the first week, we were
almost always separate. I was real-
ly sad because I thought it would
be a good chance to get acquainted
with people from a different cul-
ture. One of the things that I was
really scared of was if someone ig-
nored me. I didn’t want to give up
making friends. I tried to speak
with the Quebeckers as much as
possible. Maybe most Quebeckers
who met me thought I was funny
because I always asked their
name. (At least three times per
person!) It took a little while to
get into their company but I was
really glad that people began
using my name. And it was good
for me to speak with Quebeckers
in English. Naturally, I always
speak in English even when I
speak with Japanese! Also I was

 

All sessions start promptly at times advertised and are ap-
proximately 1 1/2 - 2 hours in length. Sessions are free and pre-
registration is not required. All sessions are held at the New
Westminster campus unless otherwise stated.

JULY 16 — 20

Office Administration
Certificate Programs

Education - University Transfer

to Simon Fraser University
(Elem. & Sec.) B.Ed.

First-Year Science - University Transfer
Including major requirements and
pre-entry requirements for

professional programs

Nursing - General

Dental Auxiliary Programs
Basic Chairside and
Certified Dental Assistant

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CAF 6. Oe CLS ee Cfo sate © 6 SU 9 66

eiia(ohia ts Porebewevduse ugg) g Monday, July 16

1400 hours
Room 2802
Heather

Tuesday, July 17
1700 hours

Room 1812
Heather

Gal teecene te retensna cae Wednesday, July 18

000 hours
Room 2802
Linda

Sie feel’ leks cove eet atene Thursday, July 19

1400 hours
Room 2802
Heather

Friday, July 20
000 hours

1
Room 1812
Linda

really glad to see that all the
Quebeckers and Japanese students
did things together. That was
what I really wanted to see!

Six weeks! It’s too short!
Though I made really nice friends,
Ihave to say good-bye. During
this program, we Japanese stu-
dents learned a few things about
Quebeckers.

Quebeckers are crazy.
Quebeckers are really tough.
Quebeckers are very nice guys,
and so on. We also learned about
Quebec culture. For example, on
St. Jean Baptiste day, some of the
Quebeckers spent all night on the
beach without catching a cold!

Finally, I would like to say
thank you to all the teachers,
monitors, and staff who gave us
lots of nice experiences and to the
people who chose me as a speaker
at this ceremony. I really hope
that we can put these great ex-
periences to practical use in our fu-
ture.

As for the Quebec students:
Sincerement, nous espérons qu’on
va se revoir bient6t! Bonne
chance!!

And good luck to everybody!
Thank you again." &

 

 

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