You Belong Here: King's International Community
Hey students!
King's is a really diverse and inclusive community and we have students from all walks of life. This week I wanted to highlight King's International Student community - 12% of King's students are international, coming from over 23 different countries (skip to the bottom for more details). King's has amazing International Staff and Student Leaders who host International Student Programs to help creating a warm and welcoming community for International Students to belong. These awesome programs also help International Students to become familiar with the King's area, experience life in Edmonton, and gain an understanding for Canadian culture. Here are some of the programs our International Students can partake in to get to know one another and become a part of life at King's:
- Globe Aware Week: For those of you who don't know, last week we celebrated Globe Aware Week, which is King's annual celebration of our International Students and their cultures. It was really cool to see flags from all different countries on display in the hallways and it was really interesting to learn about the countries King's students come from. There were a variety of events throughout the week, including an International Chapel, cultural dinners (including Jamaican, Portuguese and Indian dinners), free henna tattoos, dance lessons, cricket matches, coffee & taste tasting from various countries, and so much more! My favourite events was definitely the International Potluck where King's international students set up a booth about their country and cooked a cultural dish that we could all sample, yum!
- Special Events: Black History Month and International Movie Screenings
- Cultural Lunches & Dinners: Thanksgiving Dinner, Dim Sum Lunches, Gingerbread House Decorating, Chinese New Year Celebration, Sushi Making, Crepe making, and more to come.
- Opportunities to Explore Edmonton: Muttart Conservatory, Ice on Whyte Festival, Silver Skate Festival, Candy Cane Lane, Luminaria at the Devonian Botanical Garden and a weekend trip to Banff National Park.
- Diverse Cultural Association Club: This popular club is led by King's International Students where they can not only showcase their cultures, but also to deflate cultural stereotypes and create a community for both international students and Canadian students to feel welcome. Some of their activities include dancing, singing, fashion shows, sampling international food and so much more.
Altogether, King's has 56 international students coming from 23 different countries:
- Algeria - 1
- Bangladesh - 1
- Cameroon - 1
- Eritrea - 1
- Ethiopia - 3
- Ghana - 3
- India - 3
- Indonesia - 1
- Italy - 1
- Jamaica - 2
- Kenya - 1
- Lebanon - 1
- Malaysia - 1
- Mexico - 1
- Netherlands - 4
- Nigeria - 15
- Philippines - 3
- Sri Lanka - 2
- UAE - 1
- USA - 4
- Zambia - 1
- Zimbabwe - 4
We are a pretty diverse group here at King's! No matter who you are or where you come from, King's is a place where you can belong. If you are interested in joining our international student community by becoming a student at King's, click here for more info.
Happy Thanksgiving everyone!