蒙特利尔 Concordia U 留学生游行抗议住宿家庭和中介 (ZT)

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Students Speak Out Against ConU Homestays
Questions Raised About University’s Relationship to Peter Low
RILEY SPARKS — PUBLISHED NOVEMBER 8, 2012


About 20 students gathered to protest the condition of international students’ homestays on Wednesday.

More of Concordia’s Chinese students came forward this week with allegations about bad experiences in homestays and shady dealings with a recruiter employed by the university.

...

http://thelinknewspaper.ca/article/3582

星期三,约20名学生聚集抗议国际学生寄宿家庭的情况。

本周更多Concordia的中国学生,提出在寄宿家庭的不好的经验和大学聘用的招聘人员见不得人的勾当的指控。

约20康考迪亚的学生,其中包括一些来自中国的国际学生,于周三在加拿大蒙特利尔市中心的国际教育局外聚集。


莉迪亚,是在Concordia学习管理专业的学生,她不愿披露她的姓氏,说她今年早些时候由Peter Low,Concordia的中国学生招聘代理安排,住在寄宿家庭。

虽然她不想住在寄宿家庭,Peter Low告诉她需要花$ 900月租,在寄宿家庭住至少2个月。

Concordia的管理强调的是,学校没有运行寄宿家庭,对学生寄宿不承担任何责任。

“他们居住的不是Concordia学校办的宿舍,这是一个私人的安排。” Concordia的服务副总裁,罗杰科特迪瓦,上周在接受记者采访时说。

这样的安排是由学生与Low的位于温哥华的公司总部果园咨询。果园咨询至少与两家在蒙特利尔经营寄宿家庭的公司有合约。

科特迪瓦解释说,该大学并不要求中国学生住在寄宿家庭。

“这完全不是必须要求。学生们自行决定,他们选择这样做,”他说。科特迪瓦的办公室为媒体准备的简报文件还指出,寄宿家庭是一个“可选服务。”

但是,莉迪亚提供给Link的电子邮件,Low告诉她,并非如此。

在6月4日发送的电子邮件中,Low对丽迪雅说,她移居加拿大时必须住在寄宿家庭。 “你先住在寄宿家庭,几个月后,你就可以申请校内宿舍,”他写道。

第二个电子邮件,也发送6月4日,Low对丽迪雅说,住在寄宿家庭是必要的,“因为你可以申请宿舍之前,必须先搬到蒙特利尔。”他补充说:“你从海外不可以申请,就算你付钱也不行。“

申请宿舍,Concordia的居住生活网站解释说,学生必须住50多公里以外的蒙特利尔及周边地区。“

像加拿大学生,国际学生可以申请居留,只要他们收到录取通知书的Concordia。从Low到2月17日在一封电子邮件中,莉迪亚接受了她的录取通知书。

莉迪亚4月23日在一封电子邮件中要求Low,如果他能打电话,向她的母亲提供一些有关Concordia的信息。 “我不接听电话,”Low一个小时后回答。

“我信任了他。”

莉迪亚说,她还在中国时填了她Concordia的申请表格,但交与Peter Low帮助她提交。Low曾到她的高中宣传Concordia。丽迪雅说,她曾希望,作为这所大学的中国招聘人员,他可以确保自己的申请无误。

莉迪亚5月下旬向Low支付$ 12,100。他在2月17日发送的一封电子邮件中解释说,该金额包括一个学期的学费,健康保险和注册费$ 2,200课程费用9,000元。

但是,当她来到加拿大莉迪亚很惊讶地发现,这2200美元没算入她的学费,而是直接支付给Low。她说,她只好问她的父母要求额外的$ 1,700补足学费。

对她并不需要的的寄宿家庭服务,和额外的$ 2,200的费用,她不满意,丽迪雅说,她对Low感到失望。

“他的名字在学校网站上。我相信了他,”丽迪雅说。

Link9月25日刊登了关于寄​​宿家庭指控的一篇报道之后,康考迪亚从该大学的网站删除了所有寄宿家庭信息。


“这是一种噩梦,”凯莱,康宏金融的学生说,她去年住在果园提供的寄宿家庭。她也要求不公布她的姓氏。

“当我第一次来到这里,我认识任何人,我认识我可以信任的人。我想也许可以信任我的寄宿家庭,“她说。

凯莱一个月后离开寄宿家庭,她说,因为对她得到的食物量不满。她每月租金900美元,凯莱说,给了她每天早餐的两片面包和晚餐的意大利面。

格洛丽亚说,她付了$ 1800两个月的租金,她到达蒙特利尔机场的时侯,以现金支付给来接机的寄宿家庭代表。她说,她第二个月前决定搬出时,她要求退款,但寄宿家庭公司和她的房东拒绝退款。

“我会告诉我的朋友再也别去寄宿家庭,”她说。
 
Student attack on homestay ‘malicious’, says owner


BY KAREN SEIDMAN, GAZETTE UNIVERSITIES REPORTER NOVEMBER 8, 2012



One of the operators of homestay programs for international students attending Concordia University has called the students’ attack on the quality of the accommodations and the high cost of the fees a “malicious” provocation that is unfounded.

“This is a malicious attack on people who are just helping them integrate when they arrive,” said Renée Greenberg, owner and homestay co-ordinator of Premier Homestay, one of the organizations criticized by a small group of international students at Concordia. “One of the students complaining is still living in her homestay and has asked to extend her stay, as did (another).”

About 20 students held a protest on Wednesday to demand an external investigation into the university’s handling of international students, saying they are forced into paying costly fees to process their arrival here and then offered little support and substandard homestay experiences.

Concordia said it has nothing to do with homestay programs — where students stay with a family or in a small residence when they first arrive in Canada — and has had almost no complaints about the program, even after sending out letters to all of its 5,200 international students inviting them to discuss any problems.

Greenberg said she was shocked at the students’ protest on Wednesday. She said homes are checked and inspected and she visits the students to see how they are doing, saying one of the students who complained publicly told her the food was good and the accommodations comfortable.

She said the family that hosted Gloria, one of the Chinese students who did not want to give a last name but who complained about her homestay experience, disputed her entire story.

They said she was not only served pasta and bread, as she maintained, but had meals including meat, fruit, potatoes and vegetables every day. On weekends she was served eggs, bacon and toast, she was treated to a traditional Thanksgiving dinner and she was free to take as much as she wanted.

The family helped her get her first bus and metro pass, showed her how to get to school and back and helped her buy a laptop.

Rosalie Miller-Hodson, general manager of Minerva Homestay Inc., said she can’t speak for Premier’s services, but she has been providing excellent homestay experiences for 20 years and is unhappy with the negative portrayal of homestay programs.

However, even as far as the accusations against Premier go, she believes there has been some false reports.

As for costly fees of $900 a month for homestay being inflated, she said the cost of a furnished room with no services or food is currently about $500 a month, so $100 a week for food and board is reasonable.

“Precisely because there are no leases, and students are notoriously bad ‘accountants’, a deposit is required and held on their account at the homestay agency,” she explained.

She said Minerva has helped thousands of Concordia students over the past 20 years and 99.9 per cent had nothing but wonderful experiences.

Greenberg stressed that homes are checked and inspected for the students’ safety.

“They are not satisfied with the fact they are continually visited and asked about their comfort and satisfaction level,” she said, explaining students don’t share their emails or cellular numbers but then leave with outstanding phone bills or take the key to the house, requiring expensive lock changes.

“What would be the purpose to place students in substandard homes?” she said. “It is my reputation, which is unblemished, until now.”

kseidman@montrealgazette.com

© Copyright (c) The Montreal Gazette


Read more: http://www.montrealgazette.com/news...estay+malicious+says+owner/7519188/story.html

学生寄宿家庭攻击属“恶意”攻击,业主说


宪报高校记者卡伦·塞德曼,2012年11月8日报导



参加康考迪亚大学(Concordia University)的国际学生寄宿家庭计划的运营商之一,称学生对住宿的质量和成本高的费用“恶意”的挑衅,是毫无根据的攻击。

“对这些在他们初来时,纯粹帮助他们融入的人,这是一个恶意的攻击,”蕾妮·格林伯格说。格林伯格是Premier寄宿家庭雇主和寄宿家庭统筹。该组织是一小群的国际学生在Concordia批评的组织之一。 “抱怨的学生之一仍然生活在她的寄宿家庭,并要求延长留宿,(另一人)也是。”


约20名学生在周三举行了抗议活动,要求对大学的国际学生待遇进行外部调查,说他们要被迫支付昂贵的费用来处理他们的到来,然而得到的是极少的一点支持和低标准的寄宿家庭经验。

康考迪亚说,它没有提供寄宿家庭计划 - 当他们第一次来到加拿大学生时,留宿在一个家庭或一个小的宿舍, - 并且几乎没有任何关于该程序的投诉,甚至在发信给所有的5200国际学生,邀请他们讨论任何问题之后也没有。

格林伯格说,对于周三学生的抗议,她很震惊。她说她检查过寄宿家庭,并拜访学生,看看他们情况如何。说公开抱怨的学生之一,曾说她的食物是好的,住宿是舒适的。

她说,中国学生凯莱,未公布她的姓氏,但抱怨她的寄宿家庭。这个家庭的成员对她的整个故事有异议。

他们说,她不仅如她所述得到了意大利面食和面包,但每天的膳食也包括肉类,水果,土豆和蔬菜。在周末,她有得到鸡蛋,熏肉和烤面包,她被邀参与一个传统的感恩节晚餐,她可以自由决定食物数量。

该家人帮她取得了她的第一个公共汽车和地铁月票,教她怎么去学校和回来,还帮助她购买一台笔记本电脑。

密涅瓦寄宿家庭公司的总经理,罗莎莉·米勒-霍德森说,她不能评论Premier的服务,但她自己20年来一直提供优质的寄宿家庭体验,对此次寄宿家庭计划的负面形象怏怏不乐。

然而,即便在对Premier的指控,她认为其中包括了一些不实的指控。

至于寄宿家庭每月900元的费用被夸大昂贵,她说,目前装修好的房间没有服务或食物的成本是500元左右,所以每周100美元是合理的食宿。

“正是因为有没有租约,和学生是出了名的坏会计师,他们在寄宿家庭公司的帐户上的押金是必要的,”她解释说。

她说,密涅瓦帮助了成千上万的康考迪亚学生在过去的20年,向99.9%的人提供美妙的经历。

格林伯格强调为了学生的安全,家庭都被检查过。

“他们事实上并不满意,他们不断地被访问,并询问他们的舒适度和满意度,”她说,解释学生不留下他们的电子邮件或手机号码,却留下未付清的电话费帐单,或带走房子钥匙,导致昂贵的换锁费用。

“会是什么目的让我安排学生到不合格的家庭吗?”她说:“这事关我的声誉,它一直到现在都完美无瑕的。”
 
I listened to the radio this morning and heard about Lydia's story. Lydia said as what moumou cited.

Following is story from other side:

The homestay host explained that she normally prepared 2 eggs with toast or something similar as breakfast, but Lydia wasn't happy. The host also prepared orange juice upon request (which I think it is very fair request). The host then complained that the way Chinese students cooked the food creating a lot of smoke and apparently they had arguments about that.

Seems to me, there is culture difference factor. But the main issue is that the agent is selling the deal in a sweeter way and Chinese students might not understand all the details or fine prints. Things happened everyday in our life but it is much tough for young students to swallow.

What do you think moumou?
 
I listened to the radio this morning and heard about Lydia's story. Lydia said as what moumou cited.

Following is story from other side:

The homestay host explained that she normally prepared 2 eggs with toast or something similar as breakfast, but Lydia wasn't happy. The host also prepared orange juice upon request (which I think it is very fair request). The host then complained that the way Chinese students cooked the food creating a lot of smoke and apparently they had arguments about that.

Seems to me, there is culture difference factor. But the main issue is that the agent is selling the deal in a sweeter way and Chinese students might not understand all the details or fine prints. Things happened everyday in our life but it is much tough for young students to swallow.

What do you think moumou?

There are three issues here.

One is the agent Peter Low had misrepresented the university. That is his action, has nothing to do with the actual homestay families. He may need to be brought into justice with his wrongdoing.

The second is the mismatching of reality and expectation of the students. They had been pampered well back home by their own family, and they expect the same level from the homestay. I don't think it is a cultural issue, it's an issue of spoiled brats.

The third is cultural. We tend to be nice when asked how we're doing by a stranger. We wouldn't blunt out all the complaints just give praises. That's what happened when the lady asked the students how they were doing. Well, surprise!
 
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