Pre-departure
Welcome to your Orientation

Prepared by Centre for Intercultural Communication @ the University of British Columbia for the Canadian Bureau of International Education

You are about to embark on an experience that will undoubtedly make a huge impact on your life. Working overseas will affect your life in many ways.

What can you expect to gain from your Internship?

• making new friends, working with international colleagues and living in new environments
• building skills for international work and intercultural living (great for resumes)
• gaining new insights into Canadian culture and the culture of your host country

What can you expect from this online workshop?

• the opportunity to test your knowledge of your host country and to compare this with what you know of Canada
• strategies for gathering information about your destination country
• practical checklists for everyday living
• exercises for exploring challenges you may encounter in your new internship role
• some background on communication and culture
• links to helpful online resources

The breakdown of the workshop is as follows:

Unit One: Why do an internship? Build great skills which help your employability Exercise: Think about Canada Exercise: Think about your destination Unit Two: Before you get on the plane Questions for previous interns and people from your destination country Exercise: Check list on Health, Money, Food and Clothing Unit Three: Living and Working Abroad - Communication and Culture Speaking internationally Exercise: How you see others Iceberg model Canadian habits Exercise: How others see you Guidelines for overseas behaviour Adjustment - Culture shock diary Unit Four: Resources Links and Online resources Documents - Books, pamplets and magazines