International students in Canada, are students who come from different countries, in order to get a North American education. During the first year in Canada, international students are in the process of adjusting to their new environment. As an international student, I would like to tell you about the three criteria of difficulties that occurred to me during the adjusting process in the BMS Program at BCIT. The difficulties are cash flow, culture differences and feelings of loneliness.

Budgeting your money is a problem when you have an obligation such as rent, food and other expenses every month and above all that, trying to save some money for social activities. My classmates and I study at the BMS program, which is 36 hours a week and it is very hard to manage studying and having a job. Most of the students in my class, including myself, don't have a work visa and can't legally work here. Therefore, it is almost impossible to get a job here. My friends and I want to socialize together and to enjoy social activities like pubs, clubs and restaurants. Therefore, when you don't have money to go out, it's very hard to adjust to the new culture.

There are a few culture differences that are very hard to adjust to. Food and music are different from my culture, but the most difficult one is the language. I have found it very hard to communicate with native people when they speak fast or with plenty of slang. For example, one month ago, I had to find a new roommate and that was a very hard thing to do because of my poor English. First, I had an advertisement in the newspaper and when I made it, I didn't know how to abbreviate the words in the ad in order to save money. So I had to ask my neighbor for help. Second, when I listened to the messages on the answering machine, I couldn't understand many of the messages that people left because they were speaking very fast. Third, I had to spend a couple of hours to figure out the ten messages that they left on the machine. When I called them back, I felt that their reaction towards me was very suspicious because of my accent. As a result, I felt very frustrated. That's why I feel insecure and lonely sometimes.

When I think about insecurities and loneliness, I think about home. In Israel, I have many good friends, that I can seek advice from, while in Vancouver, I don't have these kinds of friends. In Israel when I feel lonely, I can go to visit my family or friends and they know how to treat me and cheer me up. However, living here is very difficult for me because I don't have such good friends, like in Israel. I get lonely when I want to speak my language here and I don't have anyone to speak with. In the future, I wish to find some Israeli friends, so we can speak and socialize together.

In conclusion, if you are an international student and you want to share with me your ideas or thoughts about difficulties such as: cash flow, culture and loneliness then please contact me at my e-mail address: tamirofri@hotmail.com.

November 19, 2001