Tea Time, a new program hosted by the Education Abroad office, is a social gathering that gives international students and potential study abroad students an opportunity to connect and engage in a conversation and learn about each other’s cultures.
The first annual Tea Time program will be Wednesday from 3 p.m. to 5 p.m. inside the Education Abroad office, located on the second floor of Brotman Hall.
“It is a great opportunity for students to share their stories and meet friends,” said Kristina Kochan, a peer adviser at the Education Abroad office. “It is open for everyone, especially those who are planning to continue their education internationally.”
Students who are planning on studying abroad can learn more about their designated country from students who studied there before. At the same time, international students have a chance to meet current Cal State Long Beach students who can help them adapt to living in the United States.
“We want both international students and American students to interact and help each other out with obstacles they might face,” Kochan said.
Learning and speaking the language, adapting to the culture, and becoming accustomed to the school system are among the obstacles international students may face.
“It’s pretty easy to adapt in the culture,” said Jaejin Eum, a junior communications major from South Korea. “I think my main issue was the language because it was a little intimidating to speak English at first. I didn’t want to use wrong grammar.”
Other students, like Johanna Sehmits, a junior English major from Germany, had trouble enrolling in desired classes.
“The main issue that I had to deal with studying here at CSULB is getting used to the classes,” Sehmits said. “I also had to crash many classes just to get the schedule I wanted.”
The Tea Time program was previously called Coffee Hour, which started 10 years ago and was originally intended as a social event exclusively for international students.
However, this year, the Education Abroad office redesigned the program as a social gathering for both American and international students.
“I’m looking forward to going to Tea Time,” said Jasmine Garcia, a sophomore political science major who is planning on studying in Germany next semester. “I have several questions to ask students who have studied abroad, from what to expect in Germany to the clothes I that I should bring.”
The goal of Tea Time is to break boundaries, allow students to exchange information, and bring international and CSULB students together to hopefully make the studying abroad experience a much smoother road.
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