exchange diplomacy

There has been a sharp rise in the number of young foreign nationals obtaining working-holiday jobs in the Canadian hospitality industry under the federal government’s “international experience” visa program. The number of young workers coming to Canada on temporary visas from France, Chile, South Korea, Spain, Italy, Taiwan and several other countries has jumped more than 10-fold since the early 2000s.

"I really want to see the Tatras," said Aistė Černauskytė, a political science student from Lithuania, after having laid her eyes on the landscape of Slovakia during her bus trip to Bratislava. Aistė is one of the international students who arrived to spend a semester in Bratislava. She spent 21 hours on the bus from Vilnius, across Poland, right to the Slovak capital. "Central Europe isn't very well-known to me," says Aistė Černauskytė, who appreciates the strategically good location of Bratislava for traveling.

An 11-person delegation from Gunpo, South Korea, recently completed a Sister City visit to the City of Clarksville that included tours of City facilities, a local factory and visits to RiverFest and local entertainment venues. In 1999, Gunpo and Clarksville both approved an agreement establishing a Sister City relationship, designed to expand cultural understanding and cooperation.

The number of foreign students in Shanghai has increased by 13,000 to 60,200 in the past five years due to enhanced efforts in international exchanges. The city has set up sister city ties with 84 cities in 57 countries and regions, with “rich communication and cooperation in education, arts, sport, science and technology,” Shanghai Education Commission said.

Pupils across East Renfrewshire will be getting a helping hand with their language lessons, thanks to the arrival of teaching assistants from Germany, France, and Spain. A number of foreign students will spend the next year helping youngsters in the Barrhead area get to grips with another language. The project is being supported by the British Council, which is the UK’s international organization for educational opportunities and cultural relations.

Some 50 legal experts and officials from Asian and African countries, the African Union and the Asian-African Legal Consultative Organization (AALCO) joined a training session on international law in Beijing Monday. Jointly organized by Wuhan University and the Asian Academy of International Law, the third training session of the AALCO Exchange and Research Program on International Law will run till September 24.

The Vermont ski industry is worried about the Trump Administration's review of the J-1 Visa exchange program which allows resorts to hire some foreign workers. "This program is an ambassadorship program. You get incredible students who come on up and are enthusiastic and hard working. They go back to their home country and share the incredible experiences they've had here in Vermont," says Ski Vermont President Parker Riehle.

Headlines focused on China's use of cultural exchange programs as a part of its PD strategy.

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