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A Finn, a German, a Mexican, and an Italian Walk Into FHS—What Exchange Students Think About Canada

Updated: Nov 9, 2022



FHS hosts a significant amount of exchange students every year, and if you don’t pay close attention, you might confuse them with the other 2,000+ students that walk in the hallways every morning. Though born and raised in a different country, they now find themselves suddenly absorbed in a new culture. And they each have their own opinion about it: that’s why we decided to interview 4 of them, and hear their point of view about Canadian culture and the new country they’re now living in.


Question 1. One of the biggest stereotypes about Canada is that the people here are overly polite, or at least more than in other countries. Have you found this to be true, or are we just flattering ourselves?

To our surprise, three of the four students believed this to be completely true to their experience. A reoccurring note was our understanding towards others, as well as small generosities; things such as opening doors or helping when needed. On the other hand, one student found that our politeness seemed inauthentic, remarking, “it often comes off a bit fake and pretentious. I believe it’s not their goal, but to someone who’s not used to small talk I find it strange that people ask questions without being interested in the answer”. And honestly, fair enough—Canadians could serve to be a bit more sincere.


Question 2. Something I’d claim to be a major misconception about us (though my opinion is incredibly biased, so take that with a hefty bit of salt) is that Canadians are pretty much indistinguishable from Americans. Based on what you’ve seen/heard, is it true…? Are we just like Americans, from your perspective? No hard feelings if the answer is yes.


Similarly to last time, it seems most are in agreement that Canadians and Americans are fairly distinct, but with a definite likeness. Interestingly enough, however, the differences used as examples changed between students.


One student believed that Canada is more diverse than its southern neighbour, along with being more open to sharing and experiencing different cultures and perspectives. We’re less polarized, apparently. Another noted that Americans are far more patriotic than Canadians.


As for similarities, the main common notes seem to be our food and geography. The former in the sense that both countries have processed fast food at our disposal and a large variety of brands in grocery stores, and the latter for our common climate and biomes.


Question 3. A running joke in Canada is that our education is… well, easier, when compared to other countries in similar economic and social situations. Looking at statistics, it really isn’t much of a joke, especially here in New Brunswick. But what do you think? How does schooling here compare to your school(s) back home?


This question’s answers were easy to summarize, and the verdict was anything but unexpected.


It seems our schools are, in fact, a bit of a joke. But not entirely in a bad way.


First, the lack of effort and homework necessary was a bit shocking to the students, as all were used to far more intensive school experiences. It would appear that exams are much more common in other countries, and far more frequent than what we in Canada are used to. One student also mentioned that her school back home ended far sooner (1pm), though the same number of classes were held in a day—meaning that Canadian schools include a lot more dawdling. Additionally, extracurriculars being near-entirely school oriented was certainly different from what they were used to.


Second, the big positive of Canadian school, or at least FHS, is our subject variety. Being able to tailor your classes to your field of interest seemed massive boon to many, one student in particular praising this allowance of choice directly: “if you know in what field you want to [pursue] in the future, you can focus on that and choose your classes to be according with that… [it’s] amazing”.


Question 4. Is there a significant difference culturally that you’ve noticed between your home country and Canada? Or are they fairly similar?


Apparently, we Canadians are just a little bit boring. Going to bed early, eating early, not partying as much… gosh, we really aren’t that exciting. Kidding! But not really. It seems we’re far less lively than our foreign friends. We do have more holidays, however, which is nothing to complain about.


The other big difference is that our cities are designed for car-travel, not walking, which really shocked the Europeans in particular.


But, overall, people are people, and we’re not really all that different from the countries represented here.


Question 5. After you return home to your country, do you think you’d ever want to come back to Canada? Either as a tourist or to live.


Canada must have made a rather good impression, as each student replied that they’d happily come back to visit—and maybe even to live, after high school and/or university is done and gone. The West in particular seems a point of great interest, as none of the students had been before.


Question 6. And finally, is there anything else you’d like to say? A little note for Canadians about ourselves that we might not have picked up on, or just something about your time here in general. Don’t be afraid of offending us—we can handle it (hopefully).


For this part here, it’s best to simply leave what each student said themselves:


I find [that you wear] crocs or slippers to school strange, and I feel like gossiping is a bigger thing here than in Finland. I also want to highlight your school activities, and how many options you have, in Finland all hobbies are done outside of school by separate organisations and clubs, so I’ve really liked the way it’s done here. I’ve enjoyed Canada so far, and I’m excited for the upcoming months.” – Ada, from Helsinki, Finland.


I’m happy I can be a part of this and thank you to all the kind Canadians.” – Jula, Northern Germany.


Canadians not being used to having much flavour in food, not liking a lot of spices, was very surprising. And that the government helps the people a lot and that you have free, good education, health system. Also, the multiculturality in the country is amazing.” – Lu, Mazatlán, Mexico.


Honestly, I love it here, and I’m very sad I’m leaving in three months. I am enjoying my time here and I am glad I did this experience. I would do it all over again 100%. You guys are doing amazing and have a very different but also very interesting culture that I am glad to be learning a lot about.” – Virginia, Ravenna, Italy.


In Conclusion…


It’s thanks to talking with students who aren’t acclimatized to Canada, who aren’t used to our schools and mannerisms, that we as Canadians can understand how we seem to the rest of the world—something that we can’t really realize on our own. Having the opportunity to read about these students’ experiences and view their perspectives has been incredibly fun, and we hope you enjoyed reading their answers this as much as we did.

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