TATLER JANUARY 2020

ESL VIEWPOINT

AT LUTHER , we have various international students who come from all over the world. Each of them has different life experiences from each other, especially for those students who had been living on other continents such as Asia, Africa and South America. However, some students in our school do not understand the amazing and fascinating parts of having lots of International students. Our school is just like a tiny world with people who came from all over the world and they are studying hard together to achieve their goal. Furthermore, after we graduate from Luther, our relationship net can hopefully cover the world with all the connections we have made. However, I think our school’s international activities are not popular enough among our students. We have a huge amount of students and there were only about 55 of them at the Gingerbread Cafe. However, the first Gingerbread Cafe was pretty successful with people’s participation. One possible reason could be that sugar upped people’s zeal. After all, Luther is great at creating an international atmosphere and I believe that international activities such as the International Cafe will get better and better with students’ participation.

HARVEY WANG

THE INNOCENT LIE

SO ONCE UPON A TIME, specifically 3 years ago, I attended my first Prairie Land Jazz Camp. Now, being the young fool I was, I had no prior knowledge to the history and whatnot behind Jazz so, if I was told anything, I believed it one-hundred percent. As a result, I fell victim to people joking with me. One such thing I fell victim to was the “origin of jazz.” Upon doing research for this, I realized that Jazz rooted from African American communities specifically in New Orleans - which is not what I had been told. So as a result, allow me to tell you the Mark Exclusive “beginning of Jazz.” A long time ago, in New York, New York, there existed numerous marching bands around town. However, on occasion, after a long day, some of the members would go to the local pub after a gig. Now some of these band members would come out confused with their instruments after a night’s drink and think, “What on earth am I gonna use this for?” and proceed to throw their instruments to the curb. Now New York was notorious for its homeless populous as well and because of this, some of these homeless folk will pick up the instruments and attempt to learn how to use it. Now without any proper training in the art of music, the music they made was quite different from the marching bands, thus debuting the art of jazz.

MARK HEINRICHS

CONFESSIONS OF AN INTERNATIONAL STUDENT

AS AN INTERNATIONAL STUDENT, I have received a higher-quality education than my peers in my country, but I also bear the psychological pressure that my peers do not . When people communicate between two countries, it is not just the language that creates friction, but also the cultural and historical background. All in all, the communication I experience every day is not so much communication as the shrinking of the fusion of two nations across the ocean. I am happy here, because I have the right to choose my own future, although this seems minor here, it is indeed unattainable in China. However, many times, I wonder, why did I come across the ocean and feel happy only because of the basic treatment here? I don't know and don't want to know. The only thing I can do now is to meet the expectations of my parents. Although some people only talk about this free realm, they can choose what they want. They don’t have to think too much about their parents’ feelings, because they must have considered it before sending you. That's it. But I don't think so. My parents did everything they could to get me a better education, and I should thank them by meeting their expectations and show that their efforts have not failed. Many of my classmates feel that I am too busy and I should be relaxed, but I don't have time. As an international student, you should have put in more effort than others to make up for language and cultural differences. So please give foreign students some time. Although they may seem out of place here, they are all be working hard in order to integrate here.

As an international student, choosing between cultures is also a problem. Every civilized group has its own mode of life. Of course, no culture is perfect, but when people have the right to learn the advantages of two cultures and improve their native culture, no one really dares to make a choice. The gap between Chinese culture and Canadian culture is so great. The Chinese culture has a profound heritage, and it is modest and prudent in its actions, smooth and gentle in life, and restrained and modest when encountering problems; but Canadian culture is more open and values freedom and equality. If you want traditional Chinese parents to accept Canada ’s concept of openness and freedom, it is difficult, because two completely different cultures cannot perfectly blend in such a short time. Therefore, some international students, including myself, are facing this choice — change or not, innovate or not. This kind of thing will probably take time to break-in. Is it too sad to think so much now? In short, I am very fortunate that I am a student of Luther, because this is a relatively friendly and inclusive group. I also thank everyone for their tolerance, and I will try my best to integrate myself here.

作为留学生 , 我接受着比同龄国人优质的教育 , 却也承担着同龄国人无需承担的心理压力。当两个国家之间的人交流时 , 所产生 摩擦的不只是语言 , 更多的是文化与历史背景。总而言之 , 我每天所经历的交流 , 与其说是交流 , 不如说是两个横跨大洋的民族 的交融的缩小化。在这里 , 我是幸福的 , 因为我拥有选择自己未来的权利 , 虽然这看似谨小慎微 , 确实在国内不可求的。很多时 候 , 我都在想 , 为什么自己横跨大洋而来 , 却只因受到了这里基本的待遇而感到幸福呢 ? 我不知道 , 也不想知道。我现在唯一可 以做到的只有达到父母的期望 , 虽然有人说到了这个自由的地界就可以选择自己想要的 , 不必再过多考虑父母的感受了 , 因为他 们在送你来之前肯定已经考虑到这点了。但我不这么认为。我的父母尽他们所能让我接受到了更好的教育 , 而我就应该用达到他 们的预期来告诉他们 , 他们的努力没有落空。很多本地同学都觉得我太累了 , 应该愉悦自己 , 但是我没有时间。作为一名留学 生 , 本就应该付出比其他人更多的努力以弥补语言与文化上的不同。所以 , 请给留学生们一点时间 , 虽然他们可能看上去与这里 格格不入 , 但是他们一定都在为了融入这里而以某种方式努力着。 作为留学生 , 文化之间的选择也是一道难题。每个文明群体都有自己的生活模式 , 当然 , 没有一种文化是完美的 , 但是当人有汲 取两种文化的优势并对自己原生文化进行改进的权利时 , 却未必有人真的敢于做出改变了 , 更何况中国文化和加拿大文化的差距 有如此之大。中国文化底蕴深厚 , 注重行事谦虚谨慎 , 做人圆滑温和 , 遇事隐忍谦让 ; 但是加拿大文化更开放且注重自由平等。 如果想要中国的传统家长接受加拿大较为开放自由的理念是很难的 , 因为两种截然不同的文化应该不可能在短时间内形成完美的 交融 , 因此 , 一部分留学生包括我本人也正面临着这种选择 , 改变与否 , 创新与否。这种事大概还需要时间来磨合吧 , 现在想这 么多会不会太多愁善感了呢 ? 总之 , 我很庆幸自己是 Luther 的学生 , 因为这是一个相对友善而包容的集体 , 也感谢一直以来大家 的包容 , 我会尽力让自己融入这里的。