Overview

Learning in a different culture is a difficult task for the average person but it remains an inevitable situation as globalization becomes more frequent. Understanding how to properly integrate into an established society is a skill sought after by many people and one that each member of our group has had the chance to develop during different stages of our lives. 

For two members, the Bachelor of International Business program offered the opportunity for Canadian students to spend a year of their lives learning both the professional and social aspects of a chosen country. However, in the case of another group member, integration into Canadian society became a reality after emigrating from their native country.  The individual learning assignment presented our group of passionate culture-lovers the chance to openly express our memories, experiences and opinions on a set of general categories we each became familiar with during our time of cultural integration. These categories ranged from laws, social interaction, education, language and other groupings we felt best captured shared experiences.  We chose blogging as the format to present our project for its ease of access. Our wish is for this blog to be a medium to help other students learn from our experiences of integrating into the Japanese, French and Canadian cultures. Our blog is not meant for theoretical discussion of the cultural differences in each country but, rather, for the purpose of opinion swapping and story sharing.