My name is Christine Ito and this is my 10th course in the MET programme.<\/p>\n
My background is in international education \u2013 TESL.\u00a0 I hold a BA in English Lit (UBC \u201985) and a Dip. Ed. Specializing in TESL (UBC \u201993).\u00a0 I\u2019ve been working as an instructor, course developer and director of studies in the TESL\/TEFL field for over 15 years, the first 4 in Japan and the remainder in the private ESL industry in Vancouver, BC, my hometown.\u00a0 I am currently working on the periphery of the ESL industry as the GM of a company that markets education abroad and provides landing packages to international students.\u00a0 I am also working as the Academic Director for a partner company that provides internship placements to international university students.\u00a0 My main responsibility there is developing and delivering content based academic programs \u2013 f2f, correspondence, online – that complement internship placements.\u00a0 At the moment we are in the final phase of a project we have assembled with & for Capilano University and a local catering company that is providing food & beverage services for Vanoc which involves recruiting and training international students to work as servers & kitchen help during the upcoming Olympics.\u00a0 Because of the depth of this project, I have taken a year off from the MET programme but am very excited to get back into it, particularly because of my interest in what this course has to offer.<\/p>\n
When I am not working or studying, I am most easily distracted by the NHL (a diehard Canucks fan), pianos, live music, and books (I\u2019m currently reading J-Pod, Voltaire\u2019s Bastards & This is Your Brain on Music).<\/p>\n