A fresh semester brings in a new wave of foreign interns. Arriving from the US and the UK, these 17 new interns plan to spend the next two semesters working and assisting in various departments at UIC. They will be joined by five returning foreign interns who enjoyed their first year so much that they came back to spend another two semesters in Zhuhai.
New foreign interns arrive and are given an orientation
The vast majority of these interns will work in the English Language Centre (ELC) and will help the faculty members as well as participate in and run various extra activities such as the English Corner. Other departments such as the Whole Person Education Office (WPEO) and the General Education Office (GEO) will also have interns helping them out.
During their duration at UIC, foreign interns will also be studying Chinese language via classes provided by the Chinese Language and Culture Centre (CLC). Many of the interns look forward to practising Chinese and using it during their stay in China.
The foreign interns are mostly from the US, coming from the College of St. Scholastica, Augsburg University, Bethany Lutheran College, Concordia College, Virginia Commonwealth University, Towson University, College of St. Scholastica as well as the Northern Michigan University. There are also some British amongst the foreign interns, and they come from the University of Salford and the University of Southampton.
To introduce the new foreign interns to their new journey in UIC as well as their new life in China for the coming year, the International Development Office (IDO) provided them with an orientation. The Director of IDO, Dr Katharina Yu, kicked off the orientation by giving a presentation where she spoke about life at UIC, including tips and advice for making their stay more comfortable and convenient.
Dr Yu giving advice on how to adapt to the new environment
Following Dr Yu’s presentation, returning interns Matt Breeze who is working in the English Language Centre (ELC) and DHSS foreign intern, Rowan McCaffery, gave a talk titled ‘Culture Shock’. They spoke about their previous year working at UIC and how they adjusted to the new environment. Matt and Rowan gave really useful suggestions and directed the other interns in the right directions for other things that would make their experience more enjoyable.
Matt Breeze and Rowan McCaffery giving a presentation about culture shock
Rowan McCaffery gives advice to the new foreign interns
Chinese Language and Culture Centre (CLC) Instructor, Ms Angela Liu, finished off the orientation by explaining what courses that CLC offer as well as trips around China. She also gave them a brief and basic introduction to Chinese language.
Ms Angela Liu introducing the different Chinese language courses
New General Education Office (GEO) foreign intern, Laura Kisner said “A big part of my interest in coming here was the classes that I was studying at Concordia, they really piqued my interest. Also, the language opportunity, knowing there was structured classes. Travel opportunities for learning”. Laura also mentioned “The language opportunity is a huge part of why I came and truly being able to practice every day in the culture”
Returning foreign intern in the Division of Culture and Creativity (DCC) Sunny Lee explained that she had also wanted to work in China and this is one of the first opportunities that she came across. She had a very positive impression of UIC during her first year and decided to return for a second year saying “I really liked my department and coworkers, along with the professors. I had an amazing first intern experience and it made me want to come back”.
Reporter: Samuel Burgess
Photographers: Samuel Burgess, Lauren Richardson
Editor: Deen He
(from MPRO)
