The new school year is right around the corner and as students get ready to head back to class, thousands of international students are arriving in Edmonton, also ready to start off a new year of learning.
“It looked like a beautiful university, really nice campus. Nice and close to the snow… Nice and close to Banff,” said Alannah Mackenzie, a marketing student enrolled at the University of Alberta. Mackenzie arrived in Edmonton Thursday after a 20-hour journey from Sydney, Australia.
“It was a little bit nerve-racking coming all by myself but knowing that there’s lots of students in the same boat is always handy.”
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The University of Alberta will welcome 1,700 new international students this year from 122 countries. In total, there are about 6,000 international students enrolled at the U of A.
Arriving in a new country can be overwhelming for students, so to help ease their minds the university set up a booth at the Edmonton International Airport to welcome students from around the world.
“I think that takes some of the stress off them coming here, knowing that a friendly face is waiting for them,” said Nathan Cannataro, a German and political science student at the U of A.
Cannataro volunteered for shifts at the welcome booth at EIA because he knows what it’s like to travel alone to a foreign country.
“I travelled abroad this summer. I travelled to Germany to study German and in my time there I came to understand the complexities of international travel and the feeling … of being in a totally new place not knowing anybody,” Cannataro said.
“They made it really, really easy,” Mackenzie said of her arrival, as she left the airport to head to campus for the first time.
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Volunteers welcome the students, talk to them about the city and make sure they get off on the right foot.
“We know the feeling that you first have when arriving in a foreign country so we are here to support them,” Jingyang Gao said.
Gao is in her fourth year of psychology at the U of A. When she arrived in Edmonton from China four years ago she spoke little English and found the welcome booth extremely helpful.
“We will take students to go to the city centre to apply for credit cards, to apply for phone cards, to apply for SIM cards, everything,” she said. “It is very important for them.”
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And of course, volunteers teach the international students about one Canadian fixture in particular.
“Teach them about Tim Hortons around the corner and explain the cultural significance of it,” Cannataro said with a laugh.
The University of Alberta has been set up at the airport since Aug. 14 and will continue to welcome students to Edmonton until Aug. 31.
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