对于深圳市枫叶学校的高中学生来说，今天是一个特殊的日子。在完成本学期的第3期测评后，学生们迫切的需要一个外出放松的机会，于是我们安排了这次的加拿大领事馆访问之旅。经过两个小时的短途旅行，我们来到了位于广州天河区的新加拿大领事馆。学生们受到领事馆工作人员的热烈欢迎，他们参观了领事馆在26楼的办公厅，领事馆工作人员还给他们准备了小吃和点心。

Today was a special day for the High School students at Maple Leaf International Academy – Shenzhen. After finishing our Term 3 assessment week, a much-needed day outside of the school was scheduled to visit nearby Guangzhou and pay a formal visit to the Consulate of Canada located in that famous city. After a two-hour bus ride, which students passed mostly by sleeping, we arrived at the beautiful and new Canadian consulate office in the busy Tianhe district. The students were warmly greeted by the Consulate staff and enjoyed the beautiful view from the 26th floor office tower and enjoyed snacks & refreshments provided by the Consulate staff.

领事馆共有60名工作人员，其中包括9名加拿大人。我们刚到达，就受到了领事馆首席贸易专员Tom Cumming的热情接待，他为我们介绍了贸易委员会的工作内容，以及它如何在中国和加拿大的企业之间搭建合作的桥梁。他还谈到了两个国家之间教育桥接的重要性，此外他还和学生们分享了一些睿智之言，即教育的重要性不止体现在高中和大学阶段，在我们以后的生活中也要注重自身的教育和成长。教育所具有的变革性力量鼓舞和激励着每一个人 。

There are 60 staff who work at the consulate including nine Canadians. We were first greeted by the Chief Trade Commissioner, Tom Cumming, who talked about the work of the Trade Commission and how it works to build contacts and connections between businesses in China and Canada. He also talked about how important education links are between two countries and had some very wise words to the students about the importance of pursuing their education, and not just in high school and university but also as we get older in life.  It was very inspiring for everyone about the transformative power of education.  

接下来的环节和学生们有着直接的关系，使馆工作人员为我们准备了如何申请加拿大学习签证的PPT，这对于那些计划去加拿大留学的学生来说是非常重要的。除了加拿大的大学外，枫叶学生还可以申请如美国，澳大利亚和英国等所有英语国家的大学。和所有国家一样，去加拿大上学的学生需要申请学生签证，但使馆工作人员说他们也可以申请工作签证，这样就可以做一些兼职工作。对于想在毕业后留在加拿大工作的学生来说，加方政府在颁发工作许可方面的政策也非常宽松。并且这项福利也不要求学生放弃本国国籍。

Next, came the very relevant presentation for our students how to get a study visa in Canada for those students who wish to attend one of the universities in that country.  As well as Canadian universities, students from Maple Leaf go to universities in all English-speaking countries such as America, Australia and the United Kingdom.  As in all countries, in Canada students are required to apply for a student visa, but it was explained to the students that they can also apply for a work visa so they can work part time.  Canada has also made it easy for students to stay in Canada after university and to get a work permit after graduation.  Students are not required to give up citizenship in their home country if they take advantage of this benefit.

然后，使馆的副领事吴龙先生为大家介绍了中国移民加拿大的历史以及中加关系的历史。与大多数历史关系一样，中加两国的关系也经历了舒缓期和紧张期。加拿大有着悠久的接收中国移民的历史，近年来加拿大接受了来自全世界的30万移民，其中中国移民位居前三位。加拿大在中国历史中的渊源可以追溯到很多年前，其中包括像白求恩博士这样的名人。加拿大也是最早与中国建交的西方国家之一，始于1973年总理皮埃尔特鲁多对中国进行的正式访问，这也为其他国家与中国建立正式外交关系打开了大门。

The final presentation was by the Vice-Consul Long Wu who spoke about the history of Chinese immigration to Canada and also the history of China-Canada relations. As with most historical relationships there have been positive times and challenging times and the Canada-China relationship is no exception.  Canada has a long history of accepting immigrants from China and one which has included in recent years Canada accepting 300,000 immigrants with China being among the top three countries.  Canada’s history in China goes back to many years and includes such famous people in China as Dr. Norman Bethune. Canada was also among the first western nations to establish diplomatic relations with China, beginning in 1973 with Prime Minister Pierre Trudeau’s official visit to China which opened the doors for other countries to establish formal diplomatic relationships with China.

使馆工作人员的演讲介绍完毕之后，就到了问答环节，学生们提出了各种各样的问题问题，包括领事馆的工作内容，中加关系当前存在的问题，包括当前热门话题的华为争议，还有关于加拿大原住民寄宿学校历史的问题，甚至有关于如何利用多伦多猛龙队球队来加强两国关系的问题。

A time of questions and answers followed with students having written out questions on number of subjects including the work of the consulate, questions about current issues between Canada and China such as the ongoing Huawei dispute, questions about Canadian history regarding Aboriginal residential schools, and even a question about how the Toronto Raptors NBA team could be used to strengthen the relationships between the two countries.

这一天的访问非常成功，学生们也收获多多， 他们了解了很多对他们这个人生阶段来说很重要的信息。枫叶学校将持续尽可能多的为学生安排这类型的访问，以便学生可以在升学方面做出最佳选择。感谢加拿大大使馆对这次访问的支持和热情接待！

Is a very successful day visiting an official foreign Diplomatic office with such rich information given for this important stage of their life. Maple Leaf International Academy will continue to arrange visits with representatives from different countries so that students can make the best choice about their university dream. Merci beau coup Canada for this wonderful visit!