Hospitality students the first to participate in program
By Naomi Ambrose, Contributor
Fifty students from the Japan Hotel School finished a three-week orientation program, exploring some of the province’s most popular historical and cultural locations last month. The students, who arrived in Vancouver on April 14, are the first group to participate in the program after Douglas signed a memorandum of understanding last May.
These explorations included activities such as cycling in Stanley Park, scavenger hunting at Granville Island, and sailing across the Georgia Strait from the Tsawwassen Ferry Terminal to Victoria’s Swartz Bay.
Yuta Kon, a student from the program, expressed his appreciation and enjoyment of the orientation activities. “My favourites were [the] hotel tours and [the] Victoria trip because I love hotels and seeing Canadian hotels was a great experience for my career. Victoria was a wonderful place and the weather was great, so I really enjoyed [it]. I’d like to go there again.”
Kaori Nagahisa, echoed similar sentiments. “My favourite activity was the hotel tours because it was a precious experience to have seen some hotels in Canada.”
Mehrnaz Kobari, Orientation and Event Coordinator explains, “I wanted the students to have a great time during their break before classes and [I] thought that [by] providing these activities, the students would’ve gotten the chance to explore Vancouver, gain experience and knowledge about the hospitality or tourism industry, and give them an opportunity to practice their English. Exploring Vancouver with them was also interesting; just seeing some of their reactions to the various locations made me appreciate our city even more”
Kaori, Yuta, and the 48 other students are all here at Douglas College as part of a memorandum of understanding between Douglas College and Tokyo’s Japan Hotel School in which up to 50 students per year attend Douglas College for a mix of ESL and Hospitality training. Students participate in a 10-month program that begins in April of each year.