Exchange Archives - Queen's Journal

‘Disappointing’: Queen’s students talk winter exchange

Written on January 25, 2022. Posted in News.

As countries home to exchange schools operate under varying levels of pandemic-related regulations, Queen’s students confront uncertainty in the travel process. Paisia Warhaft, Comm ’23, is anticipating updates for her semester in Tokyo at the Rikkyo College of Business in April. “On Dec. 1, I got...

Preparing for my biggest adventure yet—a semester abroad

Written on November 26, 2021. Posted in Lifestyle.

It’s been a dream of mine since high school to study abroad. Now, I’m preparing to go on exchange at Queen’s University Belfast in Northern Ireland. While this is a really exciting time for me and many others who will be going on exchange in the winter, it is also quite stressful—and feeling lost...

Queen’s launches Student Mobility Experiences Project

Written on March 19, 2021. Posted in News, University.

The Office of the Vice-Provost (International) and the International Programs Office (IPO) are developing a program to help students in equity-deserving groups make more informed decisions about international study opportunities. The Student Mobility Experiences Project seeks to expand accessibility...

“I need to leave now”: Queen’s exchange students recount coming home

Written on April 28, 2020. Posted in Features.

This story was updated with a statement from Smith School of Business on May 5 at 4:35 p.m. Hailey Rodgers, Comm ’21, had been back from Cambodia just a few days when her exchange university in Thailand announced that anyone who had left the country in the past 10 days must enter quarantine. It was...

What to expect when not expecting to spend a year abroad in Kingston

Written on March 6, 2020. Posted in Lifestyle, Student Life.

After months of waiting for our exchange results, the emails finally entered our inboxes—subject line: “Offer of Exchange.” Our hearts were racing, and the seconds it took to load felt like an eternity. As we rapidly scrolled down searching for the destination, Melbourne and Sydney were nowhere to...

Relationships on a year abroad and why we don’t need them

Written on February 4, 2020. Posted in Opinions.

When I arrived back in England from my first semester abroad at Queens, I was full of excitement and stories of my time here. However, I quickly found that few people really wanted to know what it was like, beyond love-life-related dinnertime chatter. My time here had been so wildly different to anything...

What we learned on exchange: practical lessons for day-to-day life

Written on September 9, 2019. Posted in Lifestyle, Student Life.

When you first sign up to go on university exchange, it’s natural to fantasize about far-flung travel, mouth-watering food, and life-long friendships. For the most part, these fantasies come true, but going on exchange also comes with some unexpected road bumps. Flights get cancelled, wallets get...

Gap years fill the space left by traditional academic programs

Written on September 9, 2019. Posted in Opinions.

“Wait, so you’re going to be a first-year when everyone your age is in second year?” Questions like this surrounded me in the final months of high school. Out of 120 students in my graduating class, I was one of two students who decided to take a gap year. The idea of a gap year was off most...

Connecting with peers over anime

Written on April 4, 2019. Posted in Lifestyle, Pop Culture.

When I first started studying at Queen’s last September, everything seemed different coming from Japan—language, culture, customs, and people. That was until I saw a small half-red, half-white ball that I’d known since I was a kid: a Pokéball. Although I knew Pokémon was popular among North American...

Reflecting on a month of studying abroad

Written on February 14, 2019. Posted in Lifestyle, Student Life.

The start of a semester abroad is dominated by a mix of excitement and anxiety. Many Queen’s students will soon experience that when they receive their exchange acceptances and become filled with questions about their journeys overseas. I’ve been on exchange at the University of Oslo (UiO) in Norway...

Photo essay: North America in the eyes of an exchange student

Written on January 25, 2019. Posted in Lifestyle, Postscript.

When I arrived in Canada for fall semester, I never expected a series of adventures would follow meeting a wonderful travel buddy. Coming to a new place—especially one on the opposite side of the world—is tough. Once I got used to my surroundings and started making friends, I noticed all the activities...

An exchange student’s eye-opening experience at a Full Moon Ceremony

Written on November 2, 2018. Posted in Lifestyle, Student Life.

How often do you look at the moon? In my home country of Japan, this question would qualify as standard small talk—just like asking about the weather. But since I arrived in Kingston as an exchange student, I’ve noticed people don’t talk about the moon nearly as much they do the weather. When I found...

Setting goals to make the most of time on exchange at Queen’s

Written on September 21, 2018. Posted in Lifestyle, Student Life.

On Sept. 1, following a tedious 24-hour journey from Narita Airport in my native Japan, I finally arrived at Queen’s to begin my semester as an exchange student. Moving overseas by myself to live as an exchange student in Canada was a mind-blowing, massive lifestyle change. I packed everything I...

Queen’s Winter Coat Exchange provides free winter clothing for all

Written on January 12, 2018. Posted in News.

As temperatures drop, the need for winter clothing can become financially taxing for international students at Queen’s. Fortunately, the Queen’s Winter Coat Exchange provides a free and anonymous resource for students and Kingston community members. The exchange is situated at the back of JDUC 238,...

Talking Heads: Where would you go on exchange?

Written on February 3, 2017. Posted in Opinions.

“A country in Scandinavia.” Claire Weersink, PHEKin ’20 “Japan.” Jeffrey Turnock, Sci ’17 “Paris.” Claire Swarbrick, PHEKin ’20 “Fiji. It’s too cold here.” Paul Szirmay-Kalos, ArtSci ’19

Make sure you know before you go

Written on February 3, 2017. Posted in Opinions.

When embarking on an education exchange experience, it’s important that young people acknowledge the differences that exist from society to society. This acknowledgment is the first step in making sure that the learning taking place is healthy and beneficial to both the students and the country. For...

BISC100 is silencing immigrant voices overseas

Written on October 25, 2016. Posted in Editorials.

“You’re all immigrants now,” my first-year professor announced to an audience of mostly white, affluent first-years on exchange in Britain. That was the start of BISC100/101, a course supposedly designed to increase sensitivity to other cultures that alienated me based on my own. BISC100/101 was introduced...

Commerce program to terminate ranking system

Written on October 4, 2016. Posted in News.

After taking a hard look at the stress and anticipation experienced by Commerce students each year, the Faculty of Commerce has decided to eliminate the public ranking system that previously pitted peers against each other. On Sunday, Oct. 2, an assembly of the Commerce Society (ComSoc), discussed...

It’s about being good, not looking good

Written on September 9, 2016. Posted in Editorials.

In the matter of voluntourism, it’s not about intention at all — it’s about impact. Given the negative ideals that voluntourism often perpetuates, offering students with these experiences an upper hand only values the appearance of charity, not charity itself. In his article “To Get to Harvard, Go...

I came to university to get away from my parents… not to get new ones

Written on March 24, 2016. Posted in Opinions.

This time last year, when I found out I was going to go on exchange to Queen’s, I was over the moon. I couldn’t wait to head to Canada and experience university in North America. That anticipation was well founded — I’ve met amazing people, seen beautiful scenery and experienced things I never could...

Lost in translation

Written on January 22, 2016. Posted in Lifestyle.

Picture yourself out to dinner with a friend — a pretty standard situation, right? Now substitute a typical dinnertime for 10 p.m. and a friend for your new roommate who you’ve just met. You’re in a foreign country and don’t speak a lick of the language. Cue panic. Welcome to exchange. It was my first...

Ni Hao, Shanghai

Written on November 27, 2015. Posted in Lifestyle.

A friend once told me that when you visit China for a week you feel as though you can write an entire novel about it. Stay a month, and you might be able to sum up your adventures in a blog post. Live here for any longer and you’ll find yourself staring at a blank page for hours. This holds true,...

Return often turbulent

Written on January 30, 2015. Posted in Editorials.

Home isn’t so sweet when you’re coming back to -20 degree weather. When I returned from my fall semester abroad in France last year, readjusting to the cooler climate was one of the easier parts of the transition. Reconnecting with friends and trying to meld my international experience with my Canadian...

From a castle to Kingston

Written on January 23, 2015. Posted in Features.

Aaron Tang’s favourite part of spending first-year at Herstmonceux Castle was weekend trips to Amsterdam and Paris. Tang, ArtSci ’16, came to Queen’s Kingston campus in 2012, after studying for a year at the Bader International Study Centre (BISC) in southeast England. Located in the village of Herstmonceux,...

Early exchange prep

Written on September 13, 2014. Posted in Lifestyle.

In less than a week, I’ll be boarding a plane at Pearson Airport. Seven hours later, I’ll be in the UK, ready to start my year abroad at Durham University. It isn’t far away, but it’s an experience I’ve been anticipating for a long time. My desire to study abroad started years ago, but it only became...

Exchange diaries Manchester: Student, tourist, artist

Written on September 11, 2014. Posted in Lifestyle.

Anticipation. Nervousness. Excitement. These were the three overwhelming bundle of emotions I felt all summer before embarking on my trip to England in September. There were a million things to do and it was hard juggling all that with my family time and work life. Most people who come back from...

Exchange diaries Barbados: Heat, housing and hazing

Written on September 9, 2014. Posted in Lifestyle.

The idea of going on exchange first crossed my mind last October. Since then it has been a very long and arduous process involving lots of meltdowns, paperwork and meltdowns involving paperwork (the details of which I won’t bore you with here). When it was finally time to leave and embark on this...

What I wish I knew before exchange

Written on August 18, 2014. Posted in Lifestyle.

Preparing to leave for exchange was by far the most emotionally overwhelming experience of my life. I can really only describe it as an emotional roller coaster. There are serious highs, like the day you get your acceptance email and realize its actually happening, or when you remember that you’ll...

Pre-exchange to-do list

Written on June 11, 2014. Posted in Lifestyle.

Come September, I will be spending a full year studying in Paris, France. Hopefully, I will return to Queen’s speaking fluent French with a killer sense of style. For now all I can do is daydream about sitting in posh cafés sipping French roasted coffee and walking the narrow streets of the city with...

Partner program to end

Written on January 17, 2014. Posted in News.

After a three-year trial run, the Queen’s-Blyth Worldwide (QBW) program, which allows students to complete University credits abroad, will not continue after 2014. QBW was created in 2011 when Queen’s decided to collaborate with Blyth Education, a program that allows high school students to study...

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