Queen's University International Centre Blog
Martina Dionne (née Kuska)
I have many fond memories of the Queen’s International Centre. To me it was a social hub where great friendships were created and at the same time, it served as a unique place of quiet refuge where I could go and dream of adventures in far away lands.
I obtained my B.A. and my B.ED. from Queen’s and loved every minute of it! I was exposed to Queen’s traditions from an early age as I had family members that were Queen’s employees and alumni. I even had five bridesmaids all Queen’s grads at my wedding and yes, of course, the wedding included an oil thigh!!
Despite my love of all things Queen’s, I yearned to get away, to seek adventure, to learn new languages and engage in new cultures. I was a “townie” (someone born and raised in Kingston), so attending university didn’t mean a brand new start in a brand new city; it meant crossing the street from Kingston Collegiate and Vocational Institute (KCVI) to the John Deutsch Centre (J-DUC). When you go to university next door to your high school, it feels like old hat, thus I longed to get out of K-town and experience the big wide world.
The Queen’s International Centre provided me with the resources, information and help that I needed. Friendly advisors answered all my questions from which vaccinations to get, to work visas and how to adapt to culture shock. I would spend hours in the Centre’s library scouring Lonely Planet books, Rough Guides and any “How to work your way around the world” guide. I changed my mind of which destination I would pick constantly as I dreamed of sipping cappuccinos on the piazza in Rome, or meandering the cobblestone streets of Prague or perhaps hiking in the rainforest in Costa Rica. I felt that the world was my oyster and there was so much to explore, see and do while I was young and free (after all, the advisors notified me that most working holiday visas were only valid until age 30 – yikes I better get on with it, I thought).
I enjoyed the atmosphere at the International Centre so much that I decided to volunteer as an English as a Second Language (ESL) conversation leader for the weekly English Conversation Group. At the sessions, I was able to meet with people from around the world, hear about their cultures, traditions and learn about their story of adaptation to life in Canada at large and more specifically to Queen’s. Through their eyes I saw Canadian culture in a new light and began to ponder questions of cross cultural relations, intercultural communication and culture shock and adaptation. Creating lesson plans, activities and talking topics was fun and I enjoyed the preparation and planning. At the time, little did I know that the ESL Conversation Group was the beginning of my adventure overseas. I went on to teach ESL in Asia, Europe and South America, travelling my way around the world! I spent most of my 20′s abroad soaking up various cultures, meeting new people and learning as much from my students as I was teaching them. The Queen’s International Centre played an integral part in my life abroad as it was the perfect place for me to prepare to spread my wings and take the leap from being a “townie” to a cosmopolitan globetrotter. Thank you Queen’s International Centre for the advice, friendships, encouragement and memories!
I wish you the happiest 50th anniversary.
David Rakowski, Political Studies 2011
Having volunteered at the QUIC for two years as an ESL buddy, I would like to thoroughly thank and congratulate all of the people who have made it the most welcoming place on campus. From the moment I walk through the door I feel the positive energy that puts a smile on everyone’s face. From the cultural music played to the diversity of the staff, the QUIC welcomes everyone who passes through its doors. The opportunity for friendship, good discussion, and volunteering through the QUIC has particularly touched me in my four years at the QUIC. To any current students reading this: volunteer as an ESL buddy!! Take advantage of the opportunity to get to know someone temporarily visiting your country and your campus and exchange some dialogue on the things that matter most to each of you. I wish the QUIC a long and successful future at Queen’s University and I hope it doesn’t have to move out of the JDUC anytime soon.
Peter Gordon
Hi, my name is Peter Gordon. I want to share some of our memories of the International Centre with you, as me and my wife have been volunteering at the Centre for more than a decade. Feeling as though you have ‘made a difference’ in someone’s life is probably one of life’s greatest experiences. Over the many years in the English Language Support (ELS) program (1996-2007, 2010) when we facilitated the weekly English Conversation Group at QUIC, we savoured this feeling often, working with several hundred students from at least two dozen countries. It seems we touched their lives in many ways; our goal always was to demonstrate that Canadians are tolerant of cultures different from their own. Learning about cultures from around the world from the Group participants was one of the most enjoyable outcomes for Pat and I.
We have lived in Kingston for most of our lives. Prior to retirement, I worked for the Dupont Corporation in Kingston. We grew up speaking Canadian English; helping international students cope with the irregularities of spoken English (in pronunciation, idioms and grammar) has been an interesting experience that provided an opportunity to look at the language more broadly and through a different lens.
Peter and Pat Gordon at the Great Wall of China
Over the years we have also worked with many dedicated volunteers in the Group. Pat and I urge others to consider volunteering with the ELS program at QUIC. It will be an experience like none other in your life.”
Peter and Patricia (Pat) Gordon’s have volunteered as facilitators of the QUIC English Conversation Group for 12 years. They were at the Centre in January 2010 to accept the Human Rights Office (HRO) Initiatives Award for the Conversation Group, presented by the University Principal. Thank you so very much!
If you’re interested in the English Language Support program, you can find more information here!
Haifang Wang
Seven years ago, I came to Canada to visit my husband, and later studied at the Queen’s Faculty of Education as a graduate student. My husband told me that the first place I should visit was the QUIC. Yes, QUIC was my first touch with Queen’s, and my first communication with Queen’s staff. In the following five years, my life was closely connected with the QUIC. Starting as a Queen’s family member seeking help from QUIC, I eventually became a QUIC volunteer, a student assistant, an intern, and finally a staff member. QUIC helped my life away from my home country, witnessed my growth, and educated me on how to be a successful individual in the Canadian society. Now, I consider myself as a lifetime friend of this group of people who are dedicated to international education. In 2012, QUIC will celebrate its 50th anniversary. I feel I’m obligated to share some pieces of my memory of QUIC as a small gift for her semi-centennial.
One of the biggest help QUIC offers to the international members at Queen’s is to facilitate the transition to life in Canada. In the Internet age, you can search the web and find the information you need much easily than any time before, however, a face-to-face consultation is much warmer and personal, because that will make you feel special, and your questions and concerns can be easily addressed in a short time with the professional advice from the QUIC staff. Questions from health insurance, housing, grocery shopping, sending children to schools, getting involved in the community… everything! So many years later, I still remember the QUIC orientations at the beginning of each new semester, information sessions, trip to the Wolfe Island, sport nights, and chilli soup, yummy! Actually, not only at the beginning, QUIC offers services all through the semester. English language support program, field trips, workshops on tax return and how to have a healthy life in the winter, learning to play hockey, all navigating the students out of the confusion in various aspects of the life in Canada. As an international student, I experienced all of this, and had lot of fun during the sessions.
Learning to play hockey, January 2007
I was very lucky to be a part of QUIC for a long time. As a volunteer, I worked at the QUIC resource library and also as a country representative. Then, as an intern, I helped international students to smoothly transmit to their new lives. Later, as the educational abroad adviser, I got involved in another important aspect of QUIC’s service – helping Queen’s students go abroad for exchange, study, work and travel. Every day, I met students from different faculties with various purpose of going abroad, and assisted them to fulfil their plans to do something in another country. QUIC’s library and country representatives play a very important role in such a function. From pre-departure orientation, to emergency support system, QUIC has taken every aspect of living in a foreign country into careful consideration, so that our students can live overseas without worries or concerns.
Sugar bush trip, March 2007
I have to say QUIC is a very special place to work in, because it makes you relaxed, makes you laugh and think. Here, I picked up new words in the English-speaking environment, I thought about the meaning of “internationalization”, I got familiar with the Canadian workplace culture, and of course, I made very good friends. I am always so grateful for being a part of this unique place, and want to tell every Queen’s current and potential student that QUIC is a place they should explore, because everybody is so welcomed, respected, appreciated, and taken good care of! This is a place that can give you the warmth like a family…
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Misun Park
My father came to Queen’s in the early 80′s to do his Ph.D. Our adventure in a new country and a new culture started here, through Queen’s. 30 years later, Kingston has become our home. Even though, my brother and I no longer live in Kingston, our parents still do and when we think of “home”, it’s Kingston. My parents’ lives are still, today, intertwined with the University. My mother owns Ye Olde Tuck Shoppe (anyone who’s ever been to Queen’s knows that’s where the candy is…) and my father still continues to do research and publish articles.
In my view, my parents are a success story. However, when we first moved to Canada, things were not so easy for my parents. My father had to study very hard and my mother had the difficult task of making a home in a novel country, in a foreign language. When we first arrived, we lived in the “An Clachan International Graduate Student/Family Housing” Apartments and my mother found herself with other wives and families in the same situation as hers, from all over the world. Soon, my mother, along with other wives of International Graduate Students formed an association where they taught each other skills that they each possessed — kind of a potluck of workshops. They learned from each other different things, such as oil painting and traditional cuisine from their respective countries.
My childhood memories are filled with tasting and learning about new cultures through my mother’s activities and friendships with these international women. The value of sharing and appreciating differences is something I cherish today and it probably started with this first positive contact with those families from all over the world.
So where does QUIC fit into all of this? First of all, QUIC upholds the same values and is a place for all different types of cultural exchange. More personally, some thirty years ago, it was Susan, the QUIC International Student Advisor, who heard about what my mother and the other international wives were doing at the time and came to give a little helping hand. She contacted CKWS, organized, set up, and got my mom an interview on a local program. She gave a little bit of publicity and a lot of support to this association. I remember that we were really excited to see mom on t.v. It was a huge deal in our family. Susan and my mom are still friends, she works at QUIC upstairs in the JDUC and my mom downstairs in her store. QUIC is a wonderful place, and one of the first contact places for International students. Through their many activities, support, and social functions, they are one of the first faces that an International Student and their families will see of Queens and of Canada. Organizations such as these are very important. I wish QUIC a happy 50th birthday, and long live cultural diversity, exchanges, support and friendships.
Misun Park
Arts Sci 1998 and Con Ed 1999
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Martijn Kuipers
Martijn is now graduated with an MSc in Psychology, but studied Psychology at the RUG in The Netherlands when he decided to come on exchange at Queen’s. This is Martijn’s story, as written by him!
Arrival in Toronto
I arrived in Toronto on December 14th. Setting foot on North American soil for the third time in my life. This time for more than a week (or two). A cold and snowless Toronto greets me. I went here before and I am happy to recognise parts of the city again today.
This time I am on my own and ready to make new friends. Calling my parents made me miss my real home, but a friendly hostel-staff and fellow tourists make me forget about that soon after.
Kingston is my second and fourth destination. I have a look around just before Christmas-day and meet part of the staff of JDUC. They are a warm welcome in a freezing Kingston. Unfortunately I am too late to sign in for student housing. All the forms were sent to me months beforehand, but I did not fill them in on time and was hoping it would work out on arrival. Besides housing I have to find a doctor because my skin is acting up. I have chronic dry skin and need medication for it. Luckily I could see one on campus just before Christmas. Today I am counting my blessings.
Back in Toronto I meet two Brasilians and it turns out that they will also go to Montreal and celebrate New Year! We have fun in Toronto and party along with staff and tourists at the Backpackers Inn. A lovely meal is prepared and new friends await. A few days after we say our hasty goodbyes and promise to meet up again in a hostel called ‘Sous Bois’ in the ‘old Montreal’.
Seeing Montreal for the first time
December is a busy month full of new sights and new faces. Guilherme and Wagner (the Brasilians) are a constant and it is fun to hang out with them. We walk through a snowy Montreal and see a lot of high rises. An awesome view awaits us on top of Mont Royal and the fabulous Notre Dame church down below. One night I visit a casino on my own on Jean Drapeau Island. I think it is december 31st because I call my parents in the Netherlands to wish them a happy new year. After the casino I join my Brasilian friends in the hostel to go to a New Years party in ‘Just Pour Rire’. We go into the new year in a packed building full of dancing, sweatty and tipsy party go-ers. A night I will never forget.
Arriving in K-town and staying till the end of April 2007
On January second I have to say my goodbyes to Guilherme and Wagner and drive to Kingston by bus. With my heavy bags I arrive once again in Kingston which is now starting to fill up with snow and finally looking like the place I will spend the rest of my exchange. Justin works at the QUIC and is very helpful when he learns that i have no place to stay. He has arranged for me to stay at a friendly couples house in Kingston. I meet up with Dave soon after. He shows me around and tells me where the nice parts are to stay in Kingston or as the students like to call it ‘K-Town’. Dave and Monica make me feel very welcome at their house. I have all the time to look for a place to stay for the rest of my exchange. On January 3rd I head out with Dave. After a number of calls I find a promising place on Wellingtonstreet and Dave drives me there. A nice lady called Nancy and her huge dog await me. Nancy assures me the dog will do me no harm although his name is Digger. I have a look at the-ten-square-feet room on the first floor and I am eager to live there till april 2007. Nancy and I agree on the terms and I can move in that same day.
Hanging out at JDUC and finding new courses
The Queen’s University International Centre (QUIC) in the JDUC is the place to be for me. I can meet fellow exchange students and I can call on a friendly team when in need of assistance. The first week is again full of new faces and a chance to see Queens inside and out. My favourite places to go are Stauffer, JDUC and the gym under Jock Harty Physical Education Centre (I hope I spell this right). QUIC organises a lot of activities and the extra volunteers (Ran and Irsan) are happy to take us there. Most of my friends are exchange students but I also meet Queens-students and locals that have that typical Canadian hospitality and are easy to talk to.
In the first week I find out all the classes I want to take are not available anymore. It takes some patience, helpful staff and friendly professors to find new courses that fit my program back home. I was an undergrad at the time and in hindsight was very lucky to be accepted for those courses. They were granted back home too and supplemented courses that I needed in my under- and postgraduate program in Psychology.
The rest of January I am walking all over campus and finding my way around K-Town. A week is filled with classes, studying, simple meals and the occasional party. Most of my time is spent in Stauffer with a headphone on and a cup of tea. In between I chat with staff or meet up with my new friends. JDUC is great to see my exchange-student-friends again and to keep up to date on activities, especially at QUIC.
QUIC is like a beacon, always helping me find my way. QUIC is also a clubhouse where I can learn more from the wonderful staff and feel like I am home even though I am a thousand miles away from my real home. QUIC is also a kitchen to make that nice cup of tea, or a chocolate parfait.
February and beyond
February brings a new month and more snow. I have my first ever blizzard when I walk from A&P to a friends house. It is so hard to see the road and it is difficult to walk when you are knee-deep in snow. I make it in the end and many smiles await me.
Every day now I walk from my room on Wellington Street to Campus, wrapped up warm and still shivering. Always happy to see my favourite employee at the Coin Laundry on the way to Campus. After class I get my cup of tea and go to Stauffer to greet Paul the guard or any of his charming colleagues. Then on to a computer and maybe a chat with Edward the librarian or Natalia at the Stauffer-helpdesk. Before I head home for dinner I will go for a chat at QUIC and maybe some shopping at A&P. In the evening I either study some more, or meet up with friends. Fun can be found on Princessstreet at Empire Cinema or Alfies and Queens Pub on Campus.
Weekends is usually my time for studying, working out and sometimes a trip to another city. Even in weekends I go out to study and to just surf the net for fun in Stauffer. Jock Harty is nearby and therefore great to relax and work up a sweat after studying. QUIC organises an ice scating trip to Ottowa and i am ofcourse happy to join in.
March looks a lot like february. What is different is the urge to pass all the courses and memories of the first two months. I have a couple of good friends that I enjoy seeing in Stauffer, JDUC or on Facebook. I discovered Facebook in january and am now using it every day. It is very handy nex to MSN and even more so for a student like me without a cellphone. March is also different to february because the snow is gradually changing into water and the sun is warmer. Still I can scate to my hearts content in Jock Harty, knowing it will be torn down when i head back to Groningen in may 2007.
Exams in April
March is over and the heat is on. I finish a research proposal in one day thanks to: Stauffer being open 24 hours a day, my foolish planning and perseverence on the day after the deadline. The exams are a different story, because I spread out the load over more weeks than the proposal. I treat myself to a trip by car to NYC after all the exams are over, only to come back for 3 days to pack my bags say my final goodbyes and leave K-town for good.
I thank the professors for their interesting lectures and guidance. I thank Joey Berger for selecting the Rijks Universiteit Groningen for his exchange so that I had the opportunity to come over to Queens University. I thank the QUIC staff and K-town for giving me the time of my life.
Student Writers
Alexandra Petre
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