International Students Mark a New Year in a New Country February 2019

WSD’s International Education Program students marked the start of the Lunar New Year in a special night designed to celebrate Year of the Pig. The Feb. 11 celebration, the latest in a series of events planned by the International Education Department, took place at Daniel McIntyre Collegiate Institute.

“This is our Lunar New Year Celebration, planned in part by our Asian students themselves,” said International Student Advisor Alex Coutu. “Our students are really missing home and their family traditions and celebrations. Before Winter Break, we did a Winter Activity Day celebration, including some Christmas baking and music, for those students who would be feeling the loss of Christmas with their families, and now a lot of our Asian students are missing their families and their traditional celebrations.”

With the international students hailing from all corners of the world, they enjoy sharing and learning about each other’s cultures. And despite their diversity, they have much in common.

“One of the things we always tell the students when they are feeling homesick, is to share their culture with the people here,” Ms. Coutu said. “It’s one way to feel better about being far from home at a special time.”

On previous excursions, students have visited The Forks and Assiniboine Park on a fall city tour, the Manitoba Legislature, and Harbourview Park. The program has also organized an international student movie night at Kelvin High School and there are plans in place for students to see a Winnipeg Jets practice later this month.

“We try to have an event once a month for these students,” said International Education Program Director Debra Parker.

“We see a lot of interaction between Canadian students and our international students at the school level, but it’s also nice for our Program students to have social and cultural experiences as an international student peer group, a community. With new international students arriving for second semester, the group has a changing dynamic, with new friends from new countries. This evening is an important time to meet and introduce new friends and to build community and intercultural understanding. The program is about diversity and quality of education above all else,” Ms. Parker said. 

While academics are at the forefront, so are cultural experiences. The Feb. 11 celebration offered students a chance to enjoy Asian foods and music, as well as sharing conversation and laughs during some of the ice-breaking games.

“It is always nice to see everyone from all of these different countries,” said Vietnamese student Gia Hung Tran, who is studying at Daniel McIntyre. “We are all feeling far away from home. I have made some new friends here.”

Students Gabriel Casas Murillo, who hails from Mexico, and Sofia Ochando Essaeva, from Spain, are both attending Kelvin High School. They have been able to find some common ground, including their native language.

“The accents are different, and there are some words that are not the same, but we are able to speak in Spanish to each other,” Sofia said.

They added that they felt the monthly outings were important.

“When we first got together as a group in September at The Forks, it was the first time I was really laughing (since arriving in Canada),” Sofia said.

Gabriel echoed that sentiment: “These people all understand each other better. They may be from other countries, but they are in the same situation as you.”

Sofia said she was glad for her new friends over the holiday season.

“Christmas was tough, instead of being with your family you are over here studying,” she said. “And it was cold that week.”

For Gabriel, who had only been in Canada for a week, winter has been a trial by ice.

“I think that the winter is the biggest challenge coming here from Mexico, as well as the language. But in the end, it’s all cool.”

The students agreed that braving the Canadian cold was like a badge of courage.

“Students back in Spain are like ‘oh, it’s -2 C, it’s so cold’…but that’s nothing,” Sofia laughed. “Before I would wear a hoody and a heavy jacket in that kind of weather, now I could just wear a hoody.”

For more information on WSD’s International Education program, visit here.