Back in April of this year, three international students, Angie Fujita (left), Daichi Miyata (right), and Risa Wakiya (middle), transferred to St. Joseph's Catholic High School, not knowing what it would be like to go to a new school in a different country. “When I came to the school on the first day, I was lost. I didn’t know how anything worked,” Risa explained.
But now that they have had some time to settle into Windsor, they feel that it’s a very welcoming city. “I feel that everyone here is friendly. Even the teachers are nice to me, and I’m happy about that,” Daichi said. They all think that the environment in Canada is very positive and the people are too. They like that the teachers and students at the school are kind and understanding, which helps them feel more welcome. Especially when it comes to the language barrier. “I am not good at English and I cannot understand what people say sometimes,” Risa said. She believes that people here are patient with the fact that English is not her first language.
When it comes to school in Canada, they think that the academic system is very similar to the one back home. But sometimes it can get difficult because of the language barrier. They explained that one of the most difficult things is when they cannot understand what the teacher is saying. But they all think that even though learning in a different language can be tough, it can help them improve their English.
Although they like living here and think that it’s a great environment, they still miss a couple of things from their home country, the first being food. Angie started by saying that the thing she missed the most from Japan was the food. She said that she misses the food from back home because Japanese food is her favourite type of food.
Another thing that they miss is easy transportation. In Windsor, you are limited to transportation, which makes it difficult to get places. “Japan is very small and Canada is quite big, so you need to use a car or bus to get to places,” Daichi explained. Risa, Daichi, and Angie all agreed that the public transportation here is not the best compared to Japan and could be improved.
Overall, they like Windsor so far and think that everyone has been very helpful so far. Hopefully throughout the year, they will be able to explore Windsor and find out more about the city. Our community is here to help them out and to say, welcome to St. Joe’s!
Photo credit: Layan Aboush