Blog
Whatever Happened To Tuesday?
There are many challenges working internationally - staying healthy, eating sometimes unrecognizable foods, not getting lost while navigating a city foreign to you - but perhaps the greatest challenge is dealing with jet lag. There is a twelve or thirteen hour time...
Starting Up
Life is full of new beginnings - first date, graduation from school, marriage, first child. A significant new experience for me was my first trip to Asia. Getting off the plane at Narita airport in Japan after fourteen hours of flying time through thirteen time zones...
Hosting an International Student: A Homestay Family’s Perspective
Five years ago my wife and I were asked if we would like to take part in the Canadian International Services homestay program by my wife Marianna’s co-worker. We pondered the idea and as many did, thought of the things that could go wrong. We knew nothing of the young adults we would be letting into our home. Were they well-behaved? Would they follow our house rules? Did they speak English? Would they get along and communicate well with our family? All these questions and more plagued us; we were uncertain, afraid of the unknown. We decided to give it a go and try it out; what did we really have to lose?
The first year we got a student, Nao-Hiro Tamura, who we were delighted with right away as this boy was open, spoke English very well, engaged in conversation, and almost immediately was like a member of the family. He happily partook in every one of our family events, shared his stories, and his life with us.
We had his friends from the program over on weekends and some nights, where they could get together with their friends and they all had fun. They spent time at friends’ homes as well, anything to make them comfortable in their stay here.
The Next Generation of Canadian International Services
It is with great excitement that I am taking on the Director role for Canadian International Services. I have had the best possible mentor over many years: my father, Dennis Malone, who is the founding Director of CIS and continues to be the company’s most important advisor.
From the time I was a child, what I remember most about seeing my Dad at work was the way he listened – to clients, to homestays, or to simply anyone to whom he was speaking. His focus and his genuine interest in people made an impression on me, and has been the best example for me to follow. In the course of my graduate studies, I would come to learn about “active listening,” a skill that my father practices as a natural! His endless patience and dogged problem-solving has unquestionably influenced my own career path.
This is a time of transition for both of us: for my father as he hands over the legacy of his years of investment and entrepreneurship, and for me as I take over the reins. It is a challenge that will combine my interests and experience in international exchange, program management, education and youth development.
