Moving more than 16,000 kilometres from their home in Australia to study at Brock University wasn’t the biggest adjustment for exchange students Sam Georgeff and Phillipa Elliot.

Instead, it was the frigid temperatures they encountered that caught the pair off guard.

The Australian students landed in Canada for the first time just days before Brock’s International Student Orientation Day, held Sunday, Jan. 7, and were met with weather that helped southern Ontario to mark its coldest winter since 1959.

“It’s so cold!” Georgeff exclaimed as she compared local temperatures to those in Australia, where summer season is underway and the daily average hovers around 30°C.

Despite the mounds of snow that recently arrived, both Georgeff and Elliot were excited for the opportunity to study in Canada and meet new people from around the world.

More than 100 students from 33 countries attended the Sunday afternoon orientation, which was hosted in Academic South by Brock International Services. The event was meant to introduce all incoming international undergraduate, graduate and foreign exchange students from across all Faculties to campus.

The agenda was designed to share important information that students far from home would want to know: how to obtain a student card, what health insurance covers, how to join student clubs, dealing with financial institutions, tips on finding the best places to eat and, most importantly, meeting Brock International staff who are there to support students who might be feeling homesick or challenged by language or cultural barriers.

While there was plenty of information to soak in, the agenda wasn’t all business. Students also had the chance to mix and mingle with fellow internationals experiencing Brock for the first time.

To encourage students to explore the region, information was provided on a number of upcoming events, including a Brock International day trip to Niagara Falls on Jan. 13.

The orientation day finished off with a tour of campus provided by Brock International Student Ambassadors, dinner and a St. Catharines shopping trip to pick-up essentials for their new home away from home.

International students who were unable to attend the event are welcomed to the late orientation session on Friday, Jan. 12 from 2 to 4 p.m. in the International Centre Global Commons.