New Life Chapters Starting in Canada
Opportunities to host exchange students through the Atlantic International Exchange program (AEI) are always available every summer before the school year starts in September. My family hosted an exchange student in 2021, and this year they were given the same opportunity but with 2 students.
When my family got an email from the AEI program saying that there were 2 young girls looking for a host family in Canada, they were over the moon. They immediately took the girls in without hesitation; they had available rooms since me and my sister moved away for university.
The international students that my family is hosting flew from Germany and Japan. Their names are Pia Molle and Sekka Sawada, both sixteen years old.
In advance, my family created a Facebook Messenger group chat and invited the girls to communicate through it up until their arrival in early September. That way, everyone introduced themselves by sending pictures and videos, shared their hobbies and interests, and made a list of things for the girls to bring to Canada.
Pia and Sekka expressed their excitement to me about being approved to come to Canada. Pia was enthusiastic about many things, “I was so happy, and I was looking forward to flying to Canada, to get to know my host family, find new friends, a new school, new landscapes, I was just so excited.” Sekka, on the other hand, was eager to experience everything about Canada’s culture. “It’s so exciting because I love Prince Edward Island, so New Brunswick is close. I’m excited about nature, new friends, and new culture,” she said.
The reason Pia and Sekka came to Canada for school through the exchange program was to try new experiences in a different part of the world. They want to improve their English and they were also interested in seeing what the differences were between schools in Canada and schools in their home countries.
The girls were surprised by the educational differences when they finished their first week of high school at Petitcodiac Regional.
Pia was thankful that she didn’t have to go to school on the weekends, as she would in Germany, and Sekka was surprised that she didn’t have to stay in one classroom with the same classmates and watch teachers come and go. Both girls told me that the students at Petitcodiac Regional were kind and helpful, saying that they helped them with their lockers and transition classes.
Pia wants to try out for many sports teams at Petitcodiac Regional, and Sekka wants to get involved in their high school drama club.
Aside from going to school, Pia and Sekka told me they hope they can travel to other provinces. Pia wants to visit Vancouver, BC because she’s fascinated by the city’s appearance at night. The Anne of Green Gables franchise is surprisingly popular in Japan, so Sekka told me she wants to visit the Anne of Green Gables Museum in PEI.
So far, the girls are enjoying their stay in Canada. They’re excited to experience Canadian culture as well as share pieces of their own culture with my family and friends.