The best game you can name

Go Moose! Exchange students to Dalhousie cheer on the home team. (Bruce Bottomley Photo)

This is not a sports story, but just in case you need to know, here’s the score: The Halifax Mooseheads out-maneuvered the Val D’Or Foreurs, defeating them 6 to 3.

But for many, what was happening in the stands was more exciting than what was on ice. The International Student and Exchange Services organized a night out to Halifax Metro Centre for exchange students attending Dalhousie, many of whom have never donned skates before, let alone understand that when Canadians refer to "icing" they're not talking cake.

A student from Singapore sat rapt at her first hockey game, watching the players glide skillfully from blue line to blue line. She was one of 51 exchange students from countries including Denmark, Sweden, Spain, Germany, the U.K., the U.S., Mexico, Korea, Australia and Malta who donned sweaters and scarves and banged spirit sticks in support of the herd. 

For others, the Canadian game is different from the hockey games they’d seen back home.
“Compared to hockey in Austria, it’s more entertaining in terms of the music, prizes and other events,” said Lena Rockenschaub a graduate student, while watching a group of tykes compete for prizes during intermission.

The event, which has been in the works since Orientation Week, was a way for exchange students to experience an important part of Canadian culture. So important, in fact, that when CBC-TV dropped the puck on its Hockey Night in Canada theme, it became a heated national debate.

“Hockey is such a big part of Canadian culture and I thought this would be a great way for new students to experience a part of Canadian life,” says Emily Zinck, the student assistant with International and Exchange Services who coordinated the event.

Ms. Zinck, in her fourth year of International Development Studies, brought Canadian exchange buddies along to help explain hockey terms and to give exchange students a chance to mingle with Canadian students. It’s her hope that events like these will encourage local Dalhousie students to get more involved with incoming exchange students.

“I learned a lot from those who took the time to show me around and explain the culture while I was on exchange,” says Ms.Zinck, who recently spent a term at the University of Bath in England. “I want the same for students coming to Dalhousie on exchange.”

Are you a student who’d like to help out in giving exchange students a Dalhousie welcome? E-mail Ms. Zinck at dalbound@dal.ca.